I'll Stand By You
by CarlaAndPeter
Summary: Carla forms a friendship with Peter after he turns to her in his time of need, but will they develop more than just a friendship?
1. Chapter 1

Hi everyone, this is my first ever fanfic so I hope you enjoy it. In this story, Peter and Carla currently have no feelings for each other and are just friends. Leanne and Peter are married. Leanne had slept with Paul and was ultimately responsible for his death so Carla and Leanne are not on speaking terms as Carla was not able to forgive Leanne for what happened. Also, Simon is a bit younger then what he is in corrie and is 7. Peter is still an alcoholic but Carla does not have a drinking problem. This is a set around 2010 when Rob had not yet arrived on coronation street and Carla is still best friends with Michelle, who is working in the Rovers.

Hope you enjoy and if you read, please review and let me know what you think. Open to criticism as long as it's constructive, this is my first time writing on here so please don't be too harsh :)

**I'll Stand By You**

"Leanne how could you?!" Peter asked, shocked at what he had just seen in the Bistro.

"Peter it's not what it looks like!" Leanne exclaimed, slightly out of breath after chasing Peter from the Bistro back to their flat after he had left in a rage

"Oh really Leanne? What was it then? Care to explain?" Peter raged

"He kissed me, I swear I tried to get him to stop but he just came onto me, I didn't kiss him back Peter"

Tears were now brimming in Leanne's eyes as Peter glared at her, "don't stand their and lie to my face Leanne, I know what I saw! How long has this been going on?!" Leanne remained silent, not wanting to admit the truth to her husband. "Tell me Lea! How long?!" Just at that moment the buzzer rang. Leanne let out a breath she didn't realise she had been holding as Peter went over and picked up the buzzer.

"Hello"

"Hi Peter, it's Dierdre, just dropping Simon off"

"Oh.. Erm.. Yeah, come up"

"It's Dierdre, Peter said quite bluntly, opening the flat of the door allowing her to enter with Simon.

"Hi dad!"

"Hiya mate, did you have a good day with grandma and grandad?"

"Yeah it was wicked, grandad took me round the red rec and we fed the ducks!"

"Well that sounds like you had great fun, listen mate" Peter said, crouching down to Simon's level, "can you go into your room for me and close the door please, Leanne and I need to talk about some grown up things okay?"

"Okay" Simon replied, making his way towards his bedroom

"Good boy, and make sure you close your door all the way for me"

Dierdre sensed the awkward atmosphere in the flat and hovered awkwardly by the doorway. "I'll erm.. get going" she trailed off

"Yeah thanks Dierdre, sorry about this, there's just something we have to talk about" Peter said, showing her out

"Okay, well if you need anything, you know where I am"

"Yeah thanks Dierdre"

"Peter I am so sorry, we can make this work" Leanne said, her voice a lot quieter than before, not wanting Simon to hear of what she had done.

"You haven't answered my question" Peter said, desperate for an answer

"A few months" Leanne said timidly, awaiting Peter's reaction

"A few months?!" Peter shouted, repeating Leanne's words,

"Peter it's you that I love I promise"

"You love me? You don't know he meaning of the word." Peter's voice was laced with sadness

"we can make this work Peter, you can learn to trust me again? What about Simon, we owe it to him to try and work things out"

"Don't you DARE bring my son into this Leanne, this was your fault, so it's your fault that our marriage is over, you're the one having an affair not me!" Peter shouted, tears escaping his eyes.

Just at that moment Simon burst into the room in tears, obviously having overheard their argument. "I hate you!" Simon screamed at Leanne through his tears before running towards the door and down the stairs, out of the flat. "Simon! Come back!" Leanne called after him, "please!"

"No!" Peter shouted, "you leave him alone, I think you've caused enough damage don't you?" Peter said before leaving the flat and going after his son.

By the time Peter had got outside, Simon was nowhere to be seen. "Simon!" Peter called helplessley, beginning to search the street for him.

At underworld, Carla was hard at work in her office, finishing the huge pile of paperwork she had been doing for the last 4 hours. She finally filed the last piece of paper in the pile when Hayley popped her head round the door,

"Would you like a coffee Mrs Connor?"

"No thanks Hayley, I'm going to pop out for a bit, can you hold the fort for an hour or so please? I've got a bit of a headache I'm going to go for a walk, clear my head a bit"

"Of course Mrs Connor, take as long as you need"

Carla smiled gratefully at her employee before picking up her coat and heading outside. As she made her way out of coronation street she could see Peter in the distance banging on the door of Ken and Dierdre's. She wondered if something had happened and if he was okay but decided it wasn't really any of her business and walked on. It was probably something to do with Leanne she thought, not something she wanted to get involved with remembering everything that had happened between her and Leanne in the past.

After about twenty minutes of walking, Carla had arrived on the red rec. She smiled as she watched all the families out for a walk on the sunny Thursday afternoon, parents walking hand in hand with their young children and pushing babies in prams. The smile faded from her face when she saw a little boy sat on a bench, his knees pulled up close to his chest and his head hidden. As she got closer, Carla could hear the gentle sobs of the little boy and as she got closer still, she recognised his red school jumper and his curly hair. She gently approached the young boy, sitting next to him on the bench.

"Simon?" She said softly, trying not to startle him. He slowly looked up, tears rolling down his face, his cheeks flushed and his eyes red from crying. Suddenly she realised that Peter must have been looking for Simon earlier when she saw him at Ken and Dierdre's.

"What you doing here sweetheart? Are you okay?" Carla asked gently, placing her hand on his shoulder as a comforting gesture.

"My- my dad an- and Leanne were shouting so I- I ran away"

"Does your dad know where you are Simon?"

He shook his head before yet again more tears fell from his eyes. Carla's heart broke for the little boy, deciding it was best to take him to Peter, from what she could understand Peter and Leanne had had a huge row.

"My dads really sad an- and it's all Leanne's fault" Simon sobbed, frantically trying to wipe the tears that continued to fall down his cheeks.

"Come here my darling" Carla said pulling him into a hug to try and stop his tears. She felt his little arms wrap round her shoulders as he eventually calmed down.

"Why don't you come with me and we'll go and find your dad yeah?"

Simon nodded, sniffling and wiping his eyes as he stood up and took Carla's outstretched hand and she lead him back towards Coronation Street.

As they arrived back on the street, Carla rang the buzzer to Peter's flat and he franticaly came running to the door.

"Look who I found" Carla said, stepping aside to allow Simon to come into Peter's view from where he was stood behind her.

"Simon!", Peter lifted the young boy up into his arms and hugged him tightly, "you had me worried there mate"

"Sorry dad"

"That's alright, I'm just glad your back safe and sound, I was going out of my mind worrying about you."

Peter put Simon down and turned his attention to Carla as Simon ran upstairs into the flat.

"Carla thank you so much, I was so worried, I was about to phone the police"

"It's no problem, glad I could help"

"Where was he?"

"On the red rec, I was out a walk and saw him sat there on the bench in tears, so I brought him back here"

"Thank you, he ran out earlier because Leanne and I had a bit of a fall out and by the time I went after him he was nowhere to be seen"

"Yeah he did mention you and Leanne had fallen out. I know I'm not Leanne's biggest fan, nor am I hers, but whatever it is, I hope you can sort it out"

"Oh no there's no going back from this" Peter said sadly, looking down at his wedding ring still on his finger.

"Oh.. Well.. I'm sorry to hear that Peter" Carla said, feeling sorry for the man stood in from of her who was obviously devastated by the days events.

"Sorry, I shouldn't be offloading my problems on you, you've probably got things to do. Anyway, thanks for bringing Simon home"

"It's okay, see you around. Take care of yourself yeah?"

"Yeah, thanks Carla" Peter smiled gratefully, "bye then"

Carla said goodbye and walked back over towards the factory, suddenly feeling a great deal of sympathy and desire to help Peter, after all, she knew what it was like to be cheated on and for Leanne to be involved..


	2. Chapter 2

Here's the next part, a bit short but the next part should be up soon. Please review and let me know what you think, thanks!

The next morning Carla was sitting in Roy's Rolls with a cup of coffee. News of Peter and Leanne's split and Leanne's affair with Nick had spread and everyone seemed to know about it. Carla's attention was drawn to the door where Peter had just entered the cafe with Simon. Her eyes met his and he walked towards her table,  
"Morning"  
"Morning Peter, how are you?"  
"Yeah I'm alright.. Considering.." Peter trailed off, looking at the floor.  
"Are you on your own?" Peter asked, keen to change the topic if conversation away from how wife's infidelities.  
"Yeah, I have a meeting in town in an hour so just grabbing a coffee before, join me if you like?"  
"Is that alright?"  
"Of course it is, sit down"  
Peter took a seat directly opposite Carla and Simon sat down in the chair next to him.  
"Dad can I have a milkshake?"  
"Yeah of course you can mate, go and ask Roy, here you go" Peter said, handing him some money.  
"How is he?" Carla asked, as soon as Simon was out of earshot.  
"He's alright, he's still furious with Leanne, understandably, but he's better than yesterday"  
"That's good, I'm sure he'll get over this Peter, kids are very resilient"  
"Yeah, I guess, I've kept him off school today, I think he needs a few days to adjust to things, this has really upset him. He thought the world of Leanne you know? I can't believe that she's done this" Peter said, tears welling in his brown eyes.  
"You really don't deserve this Peter, you're a good man, and Simon's a good kid." She reached her hand over the table and placed it on top of his reassuringly, "I know we're not close or anything but if you ever need to talk, you know where I am okay?"  
"Thanks Carla, that really means a lot" he smiled gratefully at her, just as Simon came back to the table with a chocolate milkshake in his hand.  
"So Simon, what are you and your dad going to do today then?" Carla asked, making conversation with him to take his mind off the recent traumas in his life.  
"Dad said he'll take me to see a new film at the cinema then we're going for pizza"  
"Wow that sounds great" Carla replied enthusiastically.  
"It'll be great won't it?" Simon said to his dad excitedly, "Dad can Carla come with us?" Peter looked at Carla awkwardly, not sure how to answer Simon's question, not knowing whether Carla would want to join them, luckily Carla stepped in to answer, "d'you know what Simon, I'd love to come with you but I've got to go to work darling"  
"Yeah, Carla's a very busy woman son, and I don't really think the new Spider-Man movie would appeal to her" Peter joked, "maybe another time though yeah?"  
Simon nodded and continued to drink his milkshake.  
"Well I better be off, I need to be in town in half an hour"  
"Good luck with your meeting" Peter said, as she got up from the table,  
"Thanks, you two have a good day, bye Simon"  
"Bye Carla!"

Around half an hour later, Peter and Simon were on their way out of the cafe when they spotted Leanne across the street. She waked over towards them, keen to talk to Simon.  
"Hiya Si!"  
"Leave me alone" he said quietly, timidly standing behind his dad.  
"Listen Leanne" Peter said quite sternly, "Simon's very upset, I think it's a good idea you stay away from us for a bit don't you" Peter walked away, taking Simon by the hand, "come on son".

Later on in town, Carla was sitting in a restaurant waiting for a potential new client for underworld.  
"Hello Carla" a man said, approaching her table.  
"Frank, lovely to meet you"  
"And you, you look great" Frank said, looking her up and down before leaning across the table and kissing her cheek.  
"Thanks, what would you like to drink?"  
"I'll have a red wine please"

About an hour later and Carla and Frank were coming to the end of their meeting.  
"So that's 20,000 units then at this price?" Carla asked, pointing to their agreed price on her spreadsheet.  
"Well I reckon, to seal the deal, why don't you let me take you to dinner where I can sign on the dotted line?"  
Carla started to feel slightly awkward in his presence, sensing that he wanted more than just an order, so she decided dinner wouldn't be a good idea, getting too involved with Frank could ruin her chances with this huge order.  
"Frank, I am flattered but i need to be somewhere tonight, if we've agreed on the deal, then you can sign this and we can meet up another time to discuss delivery schedules"  
"Okay then" Franks said, a hint of disappointment in his voice, "where do I sign?"

That night, Carla was sitting in the rovers will Michelle having a glass of wine.  
"Can you believe that about Leanne?" Michelle asked, taking a drink of her wine  
"Yeah I can actually, she's always been like that, you know, after.." Carla trailed off, not wanting to talk about Paul or upset Michelle  
"Yeah I suppose your right. Peter seems devastated about it, I saw him this morning with Simon, looks like the weight of the world was on his shoulders"  
"Yeah, and Simon's really upset bless him, I found him on his own on the red rec yesterday crying his eyes out, I had to take him home to Peter"  
"Poor kid, he seemed really fond of Leanne"  
"Yeah"  
Carla and Michelle sat and chatted for hours before deciding to call it a night. "Right Chelle I best be off, see you tomorrow love" Carla said, hugging her best friend, "text me tomorrow"  
"Will do babe, see ya!"

Carla made her way out of the Rovers and over to streetcars to get a taxi home. It was just gone nine o'clock and the streets were empty apart from Peter standing at the door of his flat smoking a cigarette.  
"Hello again" Carla said, crossing the street towards Peter's flat.  
"Oh hi Carla, how was your meeting?"  
"It went really well thanks" Carla said pushing her doubts about Frank to the back of her mind, "how was your day with Simon"  
"It was great spending some time with him, must have tired him out, he's fast asleep upstairs, I think it cheered him up a bit though"  
"That's good, and how about you? How are you doing?"  
Peter remained silent for a minute before answering, "I'm getting there, it's night time that I find difficult, being on me own, plenty of time to think, at least there's distractions during the day" he said, before stubbing out a cigarette and lighting another.  
"Listen Peter, tell me to mind my own but do you think it's wise to smoke like that?"  
"Probably not" he said, throwing his cigarette to the floor, "but it's either that or a bottle of whiskey" Peter said, his eyes welling with tears  
"Oh Peter, come here" Carla said, hugging the poor man hoping to ease his pain slightly.  
"Why don't I keep you company for a bit?"  
"Do you mind? Sorry it's just I don't like being on my own, I get so tempted by drink, Leanne was always there to stop me before but now-" he stopped mid sentence to stop himself from crying.  
"Hey, it's okay, come on" Carla said, placing a comforting hand on his back and guiding him upstairs into his flat.

Please review, thanks :)  
Also, would like to say a huge thank you to the people have reviewed chapter 1, hope you enjoyed chapter 2!


	3. Chapter 3

"Sit down, would you like a coffee?" Peter asked as they entered the flat

"Coffee would be lovely, thanks" Carla said, taking a seat on the sofa.

"How do you take it?" Peter asked, putting the kettle on,

"Black no sugar please"

"Sweet enough eh?"

"Oh I doubt that, anything but sweet, have you heard the nicknames I have round here?" Carla laughed "Cruella, Morticia, even Mount Everest once"

"Mount Everest?!" Peter laughed

"Yeah, wouldn't want to go there apparently"

"Well I will admit to you Carla, I did think you were quite scary, you know, the kind of person nobody messes with, which is a good thing you know, but these last few days I've realised you're nothing like Cruella" Peter chuckled,

"Well thanks" Carla giggled, "anyway, enough about me, how are you coping"

"It's just so hard to adjust to being on my own and looking after Si by myself"

"Yeah, it'll take a bit of getting used to, but you know there's lots of people round here that can help you, Ken and Dierdre, Tracy, admittedly she wouldn't be my first choice, but anyway, and I'll always be here for you too if you need me"

"Thank you, that really means a lot Carla"

"I know it's hard, but you will get over this Peter, I know it hurts right now but things will get better"

"I suppose I should have known something like this would happen with Leanne's track record after.. You know... Sorry..." Peter trailed off, not wanting to bring up the subject of Paul and Leanne.

"It's okay Peter, that was a long time ago"

"Yeah, I didn't want to upset you or anything, it must still hurt"

"Yeah, I loved Paul, I also hated him for what he and Leanne did and I told him that, I told him I hated him for what he did, and then he went and locked Leanne in the boot of his car and drove into a lorry, he died thinking I hated him. And that's why I can't forgive Leanne. You probably think it's pathetic that we still don't talk but if it wasn't for her Paul might still be here." She said sadly, her voice cracking slightly with emotion as she spoke of her late husband.

"I don't think your pathetic, I completely understand why you don't talk to her, I'm so sorry Carla, you didn't deserve that" Peter watched as she remained silent for a few minutes, slightly shocked at the vulnerability she showed, he was so used to seeing her strutting down the cobbles in her 6 inch heels, a strong woman, and now, just talking about Paul, someone who meant so much to her, showed such a change in her. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, sorry" she said, "what we like eh? Sitting here getting all upset, let's talk about something else, cheer you up a bit?"

"Yeah, did your meeting go well today?"

"Yeah it was alright, managed to get a new client to sign on the dotted line, he was a bit weird though" she said, taking a sip of her coffee.

"How come?" Peter laughed

"Well he wanted to take me to dinner, I mean I was flattered but I'd only known the guy ten minutes, I got the feeling he was after more than just my knickers, if you know what I mean"

"Well you can't blame the bloke for trying" Peter laughed

"Hmm.. He wants to meet up again next week to discuss delivery schedules"

"Maybe he might turn up with a bunch of flowers and a box of chocolates this time"

"Yeah and I'd tell him where to shove them" she laughed "good to see you smiling" she said, glad that she could cheer Peter up a bit.

"Yeah, I can't have been the best company these last few days, so sorry about that"

"It's understandable Peter"

"I don't understand how I couldn't have noticed what was going on? I mean, she said it had been going on for months. I should have known I'd never live up to her childhood sweetheart anyway, I was probably a lousy husband, who wants to come home to an alcoholic eh?"

"Peter you can't blame yourself for this, you're a good man, yes you have your problems but who doesn't? I know you're hearts broken right now but you will find someone who can fix it for you, there's plenty of women out there who would love to be with a man like you, you would make someone very happy Peter, and whoever that may be, she'll be a very lucky woman"

"I doubt that"

"Sto putting yourself down Peter, you're a good catch, I mean that."

Peter smiled gratefully at her, "thank you for bring there for me tonight, if it wasn't for you I reckon I'd be drowning my sorrows in vodka right now"

"I'm glad I could help you, pass me your phone over" Carla said, as Peter picked up his phone and passed it to her, "what are you doing?"

"Putting my number in it, you don't have to use it, but if you ever need me, feel tempted by the drink, need someone to cheer you up, or a shoulder to cry on, give me a call" Carla said, typing her number into his phone

"Thank you" Peter said as she passed his phone back to him.

"Right, well I better be off, I'm working tomorrow, will you be alright?"

"Yeah I'll be fine, I'm just going to get off to bed"

"Alright well I'll speak to you soon yeah? And thanks for the coffee"

"Thanks tonight Carla, I really appreciate it"

"No problem, and remember what I said, anytime you need anything, give me a call" Carla hugged Peter goodbye before leaving the flat.

After a short taxi ride home, Carla reached the door of her flat and put the key in the lock. Just as she was about to go inside someone called her name.

"Carla?" She turned round and was met with her neighbour, she recognised him, although the pair had never really spoken before, she couldn't even remember his name.

"Erm.. These were left for you earlier, the florist was delivering them when you were out and asked if I would keep them for you"

Carla looked at him then at the large bouquet of flowers he held in his hand, a look of confusion etched across her face.

"Oh.. Erm.. Thanks" she said, taking the flowers from him.

"No problem, see you around"

"Yeah, bye"

She got into her flat, kicked off her heels and placed the flowers down on the kitchen worktop. She looked around for a note but didn't seem to find one. Only a small tag with her name and address on it. She thought about the possibilities of who they could be from. They could have been from Peter but she had only seen him half an hour ago and he would have mentioned something. Unless they were from Frank, she thought, no, he didn't know her address. She placed the flowers in a vase of water and headed off into her bedroom to get ready for bed.

In an apartment on the other side of Manchester, Frank lay awake in bed, wondering whether Carla had recieved the flowers yet. The question of whether he should have left a note with them still played on his mind, but he didn't want to come across as too desparate so decided against a note. As soon as he had laid eyes upon Carla he had known she was his type of woman. Her beautiful appearance and fiesty personality had won him over straight away and he was desparate to make her his. He couldn't hide his disappointment earlier that day when she turned down his offer of taking her to dinner. Maybe it was just too quick. He could wait to see her again later in the week, maybe this time she might accept his offer.

* * *

Hope you enjoyed that part, please review and let me know what you think. Thanks to everyone who has recieved so far :)


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning Carla woke up to the sound of her alarm and got up out of bed to make herself a coffee. She caught a glimpse of the flowers sat in a vase in the kitchen and her mind again went into overdrive to try to work out where they came from.

Later that morning on her way to work, she bumped into her neighbour again on the way out of the flat.

"Hello again"

"Morning" Carla smiled, "you know those flowers that came yesterday? Did the florist sat who they were from?"

"No, just that they were to be delivered to you. Didn't they have a note attached?"

"No, just my name and address"

"Well maybe you have a secret admirer" he laughed

"Oh I doubt that" Carla laughed, I best be off, I'll be late for work"

"Okay, bye Carla"

Later on Carla arrived at Underworld, greeted by her employees gathered by the door waiting for her to let them in.

"Morning ladies, Sean, Kirk"

"Morning Mrs C" they all said

"Ready for another hard day's work?" She asked, opening the door only to receive a chorus of mumbles from the factory girls.

"Right everyone can I have your attention for a minute before you start please" Carla said as they went inside. "Just wanted to let you all know that we got the contract with Frank Foster, 20,000 units which should keep us going for the next few months or so, so Hayley, can I have a word please and we'll sort out schedules and things ready to start the order later this week after I've had another meeting with Mr Foster"

"Of course Mrs Connor" Hayley said, following her boss into the office.

Carla and Hayley had been sat in the office discussing the order for the last hour before they were interrupted with a knock on the door.

"Come in!"

"Mrs Connor, Mr Foster's here to see you"

"Oh is he really?" Carla asked, disapproving of him just turning up at the office. "We didn't have a meeting scheduled, but I can't leve him standing there like a lemon can I? Send him in please Sean. We'll continue this later Hayley, can you get that lot started on the first batch please?"

Hayley obediently left the office and Frank entered.

"Morning Carla"

"Morning Frank, we didn't have a meeting scheduled did we?"

"No we didn't, but I figured it wouldn't be a problem to turn up and check on the progress of my order."

"Frank, I'm not being funny but this is a 6 month order we're talking about, you can't expect me to work miracles on day 1" Carla said,

"I appreciate that Carla, just making sure you're getting off on the right foot"

"Oh we are Frank, don't you worry yourself about that, Hayley and I have been in here all morning sorting out schedules and the girls are just starting the first batch."

"That's what I like to hear. Since it sounds like you've been working hard this morning, why don't you let me buy you lunch"

"I don't think that's necessary Frank, I've got plenty I need to get on with here"

"Oh come on Carla, I thought I would have persuaded you now with the bunch of flowers I had sent to you"

Carla stopped what she was doing and looked up at him.

"You what?! That was you?!"

"Yes."

"How? I mean how did you know where to send them, you don't have my address?"

"Just did a bit of research, wasn't that hard to be honest, so how about lunch"

"You don't give up do you? Come on then, if it'll get rid of you"

"I always get what I want Carla" Frank said grinning smugly, finally he had made the first step towards the relationship he was dreaming of with Carla.

Carla and Frank entered the Rovers and Frank made his way over to the bar.

"Hi, red wine and a pint please, we'll be sitting over there" he asked Michelle, pointing over to where Carla was sat at a table.

"Right, I'll bring them over" Michelle said, wondering if this was the new client Carla was talking about yesterday.

Frank and Carla were in the rovers for about an hour when Frank excused himself to go to the toilet and Michelle took this as her opportunity to ask Carla about him.

"Who's the fella then?" Michelle asked, sitting down next to Carla.

"Ugh Michelle don't, he's so desparate pretty much begged me here for a lunch"

"He's not bad looking though"

"Well yeah I suppose but he is a pain in the back side, I can't get rid of him, you know when I went home yesterday there was a huge bunch of flowers waiting from him"

"No!" Michelle exclaimed, slightly shocked by his actions

"Yeah, then he turns up at work this morning asking me to lunch"

"Seriously?! The bloke is desparate, he definitely must fancy you"

"Shut up Chelle" Carla laughed, "I need to get out of here but I can't get rid of him"

"Leave it to me, you make a runner whilst he's still in the loo and I'll tell him there was a crisis at work and you had to go"

"Thanks Chelle, love ya!"

"Love you too, give me a ring later"

"Will do, bye love!"

Carla literally ran out of the pub, only to run straight into Peter on the way out the door, nearly falling over.

"Oh god sorry Peter, really should watch where I'm going"

"Woah, slow down, it's alright" Peter said, grabbing her arm to steady her, "are you okay, what's the big rush?"

"I had to make a runner while Frank was in the toilet, he's doing my head in, Chelle's covering for me saying there's a crisis in the factory"

"Is Frank the bloke you met with yesterday?"

"Yeah, he seems to be everywhere I look, I can't get rid of him. What are you doing going into the pub anyway?" Carla asked, worried Peter would start drinking again.

"I've not been drinking if that's what you're asking, do you know if Tracy's in there?"

"No I didn't see her, why?"

"I was going to ask if she'd have Si for a few hours tonight, my dad and Dierdre are busy and he's still refusing to go with Leanne and I need to go to a meeting"

"I can look after him if you want?" Carla offered,

"Are you sure? You'd be doing me a massive favour but if you've got other things to do then it's fine"

"It's fine Peter, I didn't have any plans tonight anyway"

"Are you sure?"

"Of course, I wouldn't have asked otherwise."

"Thanks Carla"

"No problem, just drop him off when you're ready, my flat's number 4, just ring the buzzer"

"Okay, I'll drop him off about 6 if that's okay?"

"Alright, see you later then"

"Bye"

It was now after 2:00 so the machinists would be back from their lunch break so Carla went back to the factory.

"Afternoon ladies" Carla said as she entered the factory, "how's the order coming along?"

"Great Mrs Connor, we should have the first batch done by the end of next week"

"Great, that's what I like to see, you lot hard at work?"

"How was your lunch date Mrs C?" Sean asked, winking at Carla

"Sean! That was not a lunch date, it was all very professional"

"Didn't look too professional from where we were sitting! Did you not see the way he looked at you?"

"Actually, he's a bit too clingy for my liking, if it's a date he's after he's picked the wrong woman" she normally wouldn't have this conversation with her employees but she couldn't help but laugh at Sean.

Back in the Rovers Michelle was still talking to Frank about why Carla had to leave.

"A crisis she said? What kind of crisis?"

"I don't know, she didn't say, she just had to get back"

"I'm going to go and check if everything's okay"

"No. I don't think that's a good idea", Michelle said,

"Why not?" Frank asked

"She just seemed.. Stressed when she left, and trust me she's not one to mess with when she has her stress head on"

"Well it is my order she's producing, what if there's a problem? It would be easier for me to be there to help fix it."

"Okay whatever, but I did warn you it's best to leave her alone" Michelle said, knowing Carla would eventually snap with Frank if he kept checking up on her.

Frank then made his way out of the rovers and over to Underworld, where Carla was supervising the machinists.

"Is everything alright Carla?" At the sound of his voice, Carla instantly felt anger,

"You're not being serious? I've literally just left you! Everything's fine"

"Well what's the crisis that your mate was telling me about? Shelley is it? Something like that, I wasn't really listening"

"It's Michelle. And if you must know, there was a mix up with the materials but it's all sorted now. I don't like your tone Frank."

Frank suddently realised he was coming on a but too strong and decided it was best to reel it in a bit. He could now see what Michelle was trying to warn him about.

"Okay. Sorry. You're clearly very capable of handling things on your own. I'll leave you to it."

"Finally! He gets it! Thank you for your concern Frank but you really don't need to check up on your order every five minutes! Continue like this and there won't be an order, got it?!" Carla asked, getting increasingly annoyed with him. "I'll be in touch about the delivery schedules" Carla said, turnings and walking away from him and into her office, closing the door behind him and leaving him to leave, hanging his head in shame.

"Didn't see that coming" Beth said, "that's him told"

"He'll know better next time, Carla Connor is not one to mess with" Sean agreed.

Carla sat down at her desk, worn out from the days events. She wondered whether it was a mistake getting into business with Frank Foster, but she had no other choice, she needed his money and this was a huge order. He definitely wasn't the man she first thought he was, far from it. This was going to be a long few months having Frank Foster as a client...

Outside the factory, Frank was sitting in his car, slightly embarrassed after his confrontation with Carla in the factory. In normal circumstances, he would have cancelled the contract and cut all ties with a company if someone had spoken to him like that, but not Carla. She seemed to have some sort of hold over him and he would do everything in his power to make her his. Maybe next time he needed to take a slightly different approach. He would just have to wait until she got in contact with him...

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Please review and let me know what you think! Thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed/followed/favourited :)


	5. Chapter 5

"Si, are you ready?" Peter asked,

"Yeah" Simon replied, appearing in the doorway of his bedroom, carrying a small rucksack, inside it was his reading book and his Nintendo.

"Carla's going to look after you tonight for a bit, is that okay?"

"Yeah, I like Carla" he smiled, "she's nice to me"

"Yeah, so I'm going to drop you off at her flat okay"

"Okay. Will Carla read me a story from my book like you do at night?"

"I'm sure she will if you ask her nicely"

"When am I going back to school dad?"

"You can stay off for the rest of the week son and go back on Monday, is that okay?"

"Yeah, can we go to Carla's now?"

"Course we can, come on then"

A short while later Peter and Simon arrived at Carla's flat and Peter rang the buzzer for number 4.

"Hello?"

"Hi Carla, it's Peter"

"Hiya, come up"

Carla pressed the buzzer and the door opened, allowing both of them to enter. As the made their way to the door of Carla's flat, she already had the door open for them so they went in, seeing her sat on the sofa with a mug of coffee.

"Hi Simon, you alright love?"

"Hiya Carla, wow you're flat is so cool! Your telly's massive!" Simon said, his eyes wide with amazement at Carla's flat screen TV.

"Here, you can watch what you like" she smiled, handing him the remote. "Would you like a drink or anything Simon?"

"Can I have some orange juice please?"

"Sure", Carla went over to the fridge, opening it and bringing out a carton of orange juice, "do you want a drink Peter? A tea or coffee or anything?"

"I'd love to stay for a coffee but I'll have to get off, I'll be late for my meeting otherwise, we'll have a coffee when I get back though if you want"

"Yeah sure, I'll see you later then"

"Yeah bye, see ya later Simon! Be good for Carla"

"I will, bye dad!"

Peter left Carla's flat and got in his car. He started the engine and suddenly got an overwhelming temptation to turn the car around and head in the opposite direction of his alcohol support group and find the nearest pub. He stopped the car and pulled over to get his head together. He couldn't drink now, he couldn't do it to Simon, imagine the disappointed look on his face when his dad comes stumbling in the door drunk. He didn't want his son to be ashamed of him. He wanted to make him proud. And Carla.. what would she think of him? Probably that he was just a drunken waste of space. She had done so much for him the last few days, always been there for him, to talk, to listen, to stop him from drinking, to look after his son while he tried to battle his addiction. No. He couldn't do it to her either. He had formed the beginning of a strong friendship with Carla over the last few days and didn't want to ruin all that for one drunken night. Tomorrow the problem would still be there, just even bigger. He took a deep breath and started the engine, staring the journey to his support group.

Back at Carla's flat, she was busying herself in the kitchen while Simon sat on the sofa, the programme he was watching coming to an end.

"Carla?" He asked,

"Yeah?"

"Could you please read me a story from my book?"

Carla wasn't used to looking after kids of Simon's age but tried her best to help the little boy anyway,

"Yeah if course I can", she took a seat next to Simon on the sofa and handed her a book filled with lots of different short stories.

"Can you read me this one?" He asked, pointing to the story with the title "My Pet Dinosaur". Admittedly Carla would rather be reading something like Hello magazine but she began reading the story to Simon.

"The End." Carla finished, closing the book and placing it down next to her on the sofa.

"Does your dad read you this book at night?" She asked

"Yeah, Leanne used to as well but she's not as good as my dad, he does does different voices for all the different characters"

Carla couldn't help but giggle at the thought of Peter reading to Simon, she was interrupted from her thoughts when Simon spoke,

"Do you think my dad will be happy again soon? I don't like it when he's sad" Simon said, looking down and playing with his hands. Carla felt so sorry for the little boy in front of her, his whole life had been turned upside down because of Leanne.

"You're dad's just a little bit sad at the moment sweetheart because he loved Leanne, it's upsetting when people don't love each other anymore but what you've got to remember is that your dad and Leanne both love you so much, and that doesn't change just because they're not together anymore.

"It wasn't very nice what Leanne did and I hear my dad crying at night time, he thinks I can't hear him but I can." Simon said, tears welling in his eyes.

"I wish Leanne hadn't made my dad so sad" He sobbed, bursting into tears

"Come here Si, it's alright darling" she said, hugging him tightly, her heart breaking at the thought of Peter crying himself to sleep at night.

About half an hour later, after managing to calm Simon down, Carla suggested they watch a film.

"Why don't we watch a movie? I've got some DVDs in the drawer over there, do you want to go and choose one? I think I've got some popcorn in the cupboard, how do you fancy that?"

"Yes please!" He said excitedly, getting up from the sofa and looking through the collection of DVDs while Carla went to the kitchen to make them some popcorn.

A few hours later and after attending his meeting and going for a walk to clear his head, Peter was back at Carla's flat. He got out of his car and pressed the buzzer,

"Hiya Carla, it's Peter"

"Come up!" Came her voice from the other side, so he opened the door and went up to the door of her flat which was unlocked for him. He opened the door and smiled at the sight of Carla and Simon, sitting there engrossed in the film they were watching with a huge bowl of popcorn in between them.

"Dad!" Simon said happily, getting up and running to his dad, hugging him.

"Hiya pal, have you had a good time with Carla?"

"Yeah it was great, we're just watching Spider-Man"

"Sounds like you had a great time then", he said, happy that Simon seemed to be having a good time.

"Come join us" Carla said, moving over to make a space for Peter on the sofa next to her, "it's almost finished I think"

Peter agreed and took a seat and watched the end of the film with them.

About twenty minutes later, as the credits started to roll on the film, Peter looked down at Simon who had fallen asleep with his head rested against his shoulder.

"Aww is he asleep?" Carla whispered, ensuring not to wake him up,

"Yeah out like a light" Peter laughed, "what time is it?" Peter asked,

"Just gone 9:30" Carla replied, checking her watch.

"I don't want to wake him"

"Then don't, stay here for a bit and leave him to sleep, how about that coffee?"

"Yeah okay, go on then" Peter smiled as Carla got up and went to the kitchen to make them both a coffee.

Carla returned a few minutes later where Peter had moved Simon so that his head was leaning against the arm of the sofa and there was space for Carla and Peter to sit down. Carla took a seat next to Peter and handed him a mug of hot coffee

"Thanks, how was Si tonight? Did he behave himself?"

"Of course he did, he was as good as gold, he wanted me to read him a story from his book then we watched Spider-Man"

"I wouldn't have thought you would have a Spider-man DVD, I thought the only DVDs you would have would have been romantic comedies and chick flicks" Peter laughed,

"It wasn't mine it was Ryan's, he brought it here one night when he stayed over and never took it back, I forgot it was in there actually. I must admit though, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be ." She laughed.

"Thank you for looking after Si, he sounded like he had a really good time. Was he alright? He was about down before we left the flat earlier"

"He did get a bit upset earlier but I think he's okay now, he said he didn't want you to be sad anymore, I think he's just upset about how much things have changed and he's finding it difficult to deal with you and Leanne not living together anymore"

"Yeah, it's tough on him, but he knows that Leanne and I still love him just as much, just not each other anymore" Peter trailed off sadly.

"He also said you get upset at night" Carla said gently, "he hears you crying sometimes"

"He said that?!" Peter said shocked "he picks up on a lot more than I think. I feel so guilty, that probably makes him even more upset" Peter said,

"Don't feel guilty Peter, it's totally normal for you to be upset, you've split up with your wife, I would be surprised if you didn't cry sometimes. I've lost count of the amount of times I've cried myself to sleep at night. You're only human Peter, Simon understands that you're upset and things will get better I promise you"

"I just feel so lonely in that flat on my own. Well I'm not on my own, of course I have Si, but he's in bed by about 9 every night then it just becomes an endless battle between staying in the flat and going out, finding the nearest off-licence and getting hammered" Peter said truthfully, "I'm just so glad I have Simon to keep me on the straight and narrow or else I would be off the wagon right now"

"Maybe you should talk to someone, get some help" Carla suggested, getting increasingly worried about Peter's state of mind.

"Like who?" Peter asked,

"A councillor or something, I don't know how these things work but maybe there's some sort of guidance out there, someone you can talk to?"

"A councillor?! I've split from my wife Carla, not going crazy!" Peter snapped rather angrily.

Carla was shocked at his sudden change of attitude and flinched away from him, realising she shouldn't have said what she did.

Peter suddently realised what he had said and immediately felt guilty.

"Carla I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have snapped like that I'm sorry I just don't know what to do, I'm so sorry" he said, suddenly bursting into tears, dropping his head into his hands.

Carla immediately forgave him for snapping at her and placed a comforting hand on his back, "it's okay, I know you're just upset, I shouldn't have said that I'm sorry"

"I'm such a mess" he sobbed.

Carla wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly, "you just need time" she said softly.

Carla held him like that for a few minutes until he had stopped crying and his tears had subsided.

"Peter, if you're really feeling lonely, if you want to, you can stay here if you like, the bed in the spare room might not be the comfiest but if you don't want to go home then you're welcome to stay here" Carla said, worried if she let him go home in this state he would end up getting drunk as soon as he got home.

"Are you sure you don't mind?"

"Of course not, I wouldn't have asked otherwise" Carla replied, echoing her own words from earlier that day. "I'm going to have a shower, make yourself at home." She smiled at him before disappearing off into the bathroom. Peter's lips curled into a smile as he watched her leave the room before turning his attention to Simon, "it's going to be okay Si" he said quietly, "you and me are going to be just fine mate, I promise" he said, leaning down and kissing his forehead, watching his son sleep peacefully.

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Hope you enjoyed that chapter, Carla and Peter will be getting closer and closer as the chapters go on so please keep reading ;) thank you for all the reviews on the last chapter! The lovely reviews have motivated me to keep writing and updating regularly so thank you so much! Please let me know what you think of this chapter :)


	6. Chapter 6

Here's the next chapter! So happy to see that people seem to be enjoying this story, thank you so much for the reviews! Also the people who have followed and favourited this story! Hope you enjoy the next chapter!

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The next morning, Carla woke up to the sound of Peter and Simon talking from the kitchen area of her flat. She got up out of bed, put on her dressing gown and went through to see what they were doing.

"Morning" Peter said happily, putting down three plates on table.

"I made you breakfast" he said, pulling out a chair for her to sit down.

"Aww Peter you didn't have to do that, it should be me making that, you're the guests you shouldn't have to make your own breakfast" she laughed, taking a seat directly across from him at the table.

"You've done enough for me letting us stay here last night, the least I can do is make you breakfast"

"Well thank you" Carla said, taking a drink of her coffee.

"And how are you this morning Simon, did you sleep well love?"

"Yeah thanks" Simon replied, whilst eating his breakfast.

A while later they had all finished breakfast and Carla was about to go and get ready for work.

"We best get off" Peter said, "thank you so much for letting me stay last night, it really helped not being on my own"

"It's alright, I best get ready for work anyway, I need to go in this afternoon"

When Simon was out of earshot, Peter turned to Carla, "are you doing anything tonight?"

"No, are you?"

"No, erm.. I was just wondering.. Feel free to say no but I just thought it would be nice to go out somewhere, maybe dinner at the bistro?"

"That sounds great, I'd love to"

"Really?"

"Yeah, it'll be nice to get out for a bit, but are you sure you're up to it?"

"Yeah of course, I think it'll do me good to get out, I'll get my dad and Dierdre to take Simon. I'll meet you at the bistro at about 7? Is that okay?"

"Yeah sounds great, I'll see you at 7 then"

"Okay, and thanks again for last night, I don't know what I would have done without you this last week." He pulled her close to him and hugged her tightly, kissing her on the cheek.

"No worries, if you ever want to stay in the spare room, I don't mind."

"I don't want to be in your way or anything"

"Peter I'm on my own just like you are, I'm just sat here by myself anyway, I enjoy your company actually"

"Really? Well I happen to enjoy yours too, but as much as I'd love to stay here I really better get going"

"Yeah me too, that factory won't run itself, I'll see you at 7 in the bistro?"

"Yeah see you later" he said just as Simon joined them by the door. "Come on then Si, what do you say to Carla?"

"Thank you" Simon said cheerfully, "I had such a good time"

"No problem sweetheart, see you later"

"Bye!"

That night Carla had finished work and was at home in her flat getting ready to go to dinner with Peter. She was wearing a simple but elegant black dress with heels, her hair hung loosely in ringlets past her shoulders and her make-up was very natural, finishing her look with silver diamond earrings. She sprayed her perfume and grabbed her handbag, putting in her purse and phone, and made her way out to her car.

Peter had just dropped Simon off at Ken and Dierdre's for the night and was walking down coronation street towards the bistro. He was dressed in a white shirt and trousers with a smart jacket on top. He noticed Carla parking her car by the factory and waited by the door of the bistro for her.

"Hi" he said as she walked towards him, "you look beautiful"

She smiled at him and blushed a little as he kissed her cheek.

"Thank you, you're not too bad yourself" she replied, hugging him.

The two of them entered the bistro together and were greeted by Nick who Peter scowled at, maybe it wasn't such a good idea coming here Carla thought..

"Table for two please Nick" Carla said, knowing that if Peter started talking to him one of them would end up smacking each other. Thankfully there was no sign of Leanne yet.

Peter and Carla were shown to a table and ordered some drinks and were sat chatting. Before long, Carla noticed Leanne appear behind the bar and they caught each other's eye. Before long she was on her way over to their table.

"Well this looks cosy", her shrill voice echoed as she approached them.

"Didn't take you long to move on did it Peter."

"Don't be so ridiculous Leanne, we're out together as friends and we're having a lovely time until you decided to show your face"

"Well I do own the place so in kind of unavoidable" she said smugly, "I shouldn't even let you in here"

"Oh really?" Peter laughed, "what are you gonna do, call the police and get then to escort me out because you cheated on me"

Leanne was silent, not knowing how to retaliate to Peter's comment.

"Maybe we should go" Carla said, trying to calm the situation

"Yeah maybe you should", Leanne shouted, might have guessed you would be throwing yourself at him Carla, anything to get at me eh? You better watch if you're going to go out with the black widdow Peter, you might be dead this time next year along with all her other husbands, it was probably a lucky escape for them all if you ask me, having to live with her"

"How dare you!" Carla shouted, visibly upset by Leanne's harsh words, "in case you've forgotten, if you hadn't slept with my Paul he would be dead right now, don't you dare stand there and act all innocent Leanne like butter wouldn't melt, you're nothing but a dirty hooker, never happy unless you're sleeping around with other men. Come on Peter we're leaving" she said, getting up and putting on her coat, Peter doing the same.

Both of them left the bistro and stepped out into the cool evening air.

"Are you okay?" Carla asked Peter sensitively as soon as the were out of the building.

"Yeah I'm fine, although I should be asking you that, I'm so sorry you for caught up in that Carla, I can't believe the things she said to you"

"It's alright, nothing I can't handle" Carla shrugged it off, but Peter could tell Leanne had upset her.

"We shouldn't have gone to the bistro antway" Peter said,

"Maybe wasn't the best idea, but we shouldn't let her ruin our night, I was having a really good time until she turned up. Why don't we go into town, I know a great little Italian restraunt, it's only ten minutes away in a taxi"

"Yeah that sounds great, come on then, we'll get a taxi"

A while later and Carla and Peter were in a restaurant in town having just had dinner and were just chatting.

"Do you come here often?" Peter ahead, "I've never been in before.

"Not a lot, I've been a few times for meetings with clients."

"Speaking of clients, have you heard from that Frank bloke that you met with?"

"No, thankfully, I think I scared him off the other day." Carla laughed, "he hasn't been in touch since."

"Good, I hope he's not hassling you"

"No I haven't heard from him, if I didn't need his flamin' money so much I would have cancelled the order and told him to get lost."

"I've got no doubt you put him in his place though, I'm sure he'll know not to mess with you again"

"He better not" Carla laughed, "so how's the bookies?"

"Yeah business is pretty good thanks, can't complain"

"That's good."

"Yeah" there was comfortable silence for a few seconds before Peter spoke again.

"Hey, Si was asking about you earlier, he wanted to come with me"

"Aww bless him, he's such a good kid"

"Yeah, he seems to really like you, he had a lovely time last night"

"That's good"

"You're good with kids" Peter commented,

"Oh god no, I try my best but I'm never what you'd call a natural parent" Carla laughed

"Really? You could have fooled me, you're great with Simon"

"I only read him a story and put a film on, if he was a few years younger I wouldn't have a clue what to do with him to keep him entertained, put a baby down in front of me and tell me to look after if for a few hours and I'd run a mile"

"So you've never wanted kids of your own then?"

"No, I mean I wouldn't completely rule it out but it's never been part of my life plan. You get these girls that want to have about 4 kids by the time they're 30 but that's just not me"

"I'm sure you'd make a great mum one day"

"Not unless I find the right man, and with my track record of failed relationships I doubt that's going to happen" Carla said sadly,

"Carla any man would be lucky to have you, I bet there's a thousand men in Manchester alone that would want to be with you"

"I don't think so"

"I do, you will find someone that makes you happy one day" Peter said, before they both again faded I to a comfortable silence.

A few hours later and Carla and Peter had just arrived back on Coronation Street and were stood by the door of Peter's flat.

"Do you want to come in for a drink?" Peter asked

"On one condition" Carla said, trying not to laugh, thinking back to the conversation she had with Simon the other day.

"Oh yeah? What's that then?"

"You read me a story from Simon's book"

"Aren't you a bit old for stories love?" Peter laughed,

"You haven't heard the best part of the deal yet"

"Oh god.. What's that?"

"You have to do it in the voices of the characters, Simon was telling me you're a natural at it"

"No chance, that's just embarassing" Peter laughed, "I can't believe he told you that."

"Aww Peter, you're such a spoil sport" Carla teased, "Fine, I'll just have to think of something else for you to do, but I will take that drink" she laughed, following him up to the flat.

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Just a message to say that I've just noticed, chapter 4 was posted twice instead of chapter 3 then chapter 4 being uploaded, not sure how that's happened but just to let anyone know who was reading this, chapter 3 has now been added again so chapter 3 and 4 should make more sense now :)

Chapter 7 will hopefully be up tomorrow.


	7. Chapter 7

Here's the next chapter, I should point out that part of this chapter is from one of Carla and Peter's scenes from 2011 where they are meeting up in Carla's flat. I've used some of the dialogue but tried to put my own twist on it so I hope you like it :) thanks for all the reviews so far, I really appreciate them, hope you enjoy the next part!

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Carla and Peter were sitting on Peter's sofa, both with a cup of coffee in their hand.

"Sorry I couldn't give you anything stronger, I don't think it would be wise for me to supply that"

"I'm glad you didn't have a bottle of wine in the cupboard, coffee's fine thanks"

Both were sat content in each other's company until Carla spoke.

"I have an idea"

"Do I really want to know what it is this time?" Peter laughed

"Let's play a game"

"You know what, I'm seriously beginning to wonder what age you actually are.. First you want me to read you a story then you want to play a game? Are you sure you don't want a little carton of juice instead of that coffee? There are plenty in the fridge" Peter teased,

"Don't be mean" Carla laughed, "you'll love this game"

"Go on then, what is it?"

"Right, so one of us has to give the other one a situation and the other person has to see what they would choose or do"

Peter still didn't quite follow what she was talking about but decided to go along with it anyway, "okay then, you go first so that I know what you're talking about"

"Okay.. So, if you got to spend 2 weeks anywhere in the world where would it be?"

"Probably America, I've always wanted to go there, it looks so amazing. And it's always sunny. Have you been before?"

"Yeah I've been a few times, I've got a mate over there who lives in LA, it's great."

"Where would you go?"

"Probably France, I'd love to go to Paris, it would be so romantic"

"Yeah it would, city of love and all that" Peter laughed,

"Okay you're turn"

"If you could listen to one song for the rest of your life what would it be?" Peter asked

"One song?! There's millions of songs I can't just pick one, that's such a hard one.. Ermm... Probably The Verve - The Drugs Don't Work"

"Great song" Peter agreed,

Carla smiled at him, thinking back to that night in her flat with Liam.. "What song would you choose?" she asked Peter,

"Probably something by Pilot"

"Pilot? Doesn't he fly a plane?"

"No that kind of Pilot, the band" Peter laughed,

"Never heard of them" Carla said,

"Come on, you must have"

"Nope, you've got to remember, you're that but older than me, and when we're talking music, 10 years is whole generation"

"Very funny" Peter said, nudging her arm playfully, "I can't believe you haven't heard of Pilot."

"Give me one of their songs then, I might know that"

"If you insist" Peter laughed

"January, sick and tired you've been hanging on me" he began to sing,

"You make me sad with your eyes, you're telling me lies.. Don't go don't go"

"You haven't been drinking have you?" Carla laughed, "yeah I know that song actually.. So you'd listen to that for the rest of your life?!"

"Maybe not that one"

"Good, you would be depressed within a week!"

"That's true, not the most uplifting song, go on, you're turn"

"Okay.. If you could be any animal for a day, what would you be?" Carla asked

"I can honestly day I've never given it much thought, I'd probably be a bird, then I could fly, it would be so free, just being able to take off and fly anywhere you wanted. You?"

"I'd probably be a dog, it would be chilled, just being able to relax by the fire in the winter, get fed, take yourself for a stroll round the garden then do it all again, life would be so easy"

"That's true, I got a good one, if you could have one superpower for a day what would it be?"

"Probably to be invisible, it would be great to hear what people have to say when they don't know you're listening, I'd love to sit round that table in the factory when they're all on their lunch break, they must talk some rubbish. Actually I'm not sure I'd want to know what they're talking about" Carla laughed,

"Yeah it'd be great to be invisible for a day, sometimes I'd love to be a fly on the wall in some people's conversations"

"So you'd choose the same?"

"Probably yeah, I got a good one, if you could re-live any part of your life, what would it be and why?"

"Why do you keep giving me such difficult ones?" Carla laughed, "I'm gonna have to think about this one.. I'd probably go back to my last conversation with Liam, I lied to him and told him I didn't love him, that's my biggest regret in life, I wish I had told him the truth and he might still be alive, but I guess that's the way things were meant to be for us.."

"You really loved him didn't you?" Peter said, although he had only got to know Carla recently he could tell how much Liam meant to her, every time his name was mentioned she had a sparkle in her eye, followed by a deep sadness, grieving for the love that she had lost.

"I did yeah, and he loved me, he might not have shown it, but behind closed doors we did love each other. Anyway, what would you re-live?" Carla asked, Peter could tell she was keen to change the topic of conversation so he did,

"I'd want to re-live the day when Si was born, I would do anything to be part of that day, to experience my son being brought into the world."

"You really love that little lad don't you?"

"Yeah, he's the most important person in my life"

"You're a great dad to him"

"Thanks, I try my best." Carla found it cute how close Peter and Simon were and it was clear to her how much Peter loved his son.

"My turn, if you were stuck on a desert island, what 3 items would you take with you?"

"Erm, I'd take spare clothes, it'll probably be too hot so don't want to be sweaty, a nice comfy sleeping bag and probably some water, don't want to die of dehydration" he laughed,

"That's very practical, you're like the next Bear Grylls you are" Carla laughed,

"Why what would you take? You're phone, hello magazine and you're lippy?" Peter laughed,

"Pretty much. I'm never very practical"

"Well it's a good job you're not planning on visiting te desert, I don't think you'd last very long, you do know sand can be difficult to walk in the sand with heels like that" Peter said, gesturing down towards Carla's 6 inch stilettos, I mean how do you even walk in those?!"

"Plenty practice darling, I wear them pretty much every day, you'll know something's wrong if I'm in flats" she laughed, "okay I have a really good one, sticking with the desert island theme, if you had to spend a week on a desert island and you were allowed to take 5 people with you, who would they be?"

"Oh that's difficult, well I'd obviously take Simon, and then my dad and Dierdre, even if it's just to help me look after Si", he laughed, "that's three.. I'd take Steve, just because he's so funny, he'd keep us all entertained for the week, because there's not much to do on a desert island is there?"

"You're right there" Carla said, "who would be number five?"

"Well it would be someone who means a lot to me, someone who's been there for me" he said, edging closer to Carla, "someone who's great company, who's funny, who's got a great sense of humour" he said, edging closer to her with every word, "someone who's intelligent, and not to mention absoloutely beautiful" by the time he had finished talking, their faces were only inches apart,

"Who would that be then" Carla asked,

"You. Carla I would quite happily be stranded on a desert island with you." He said, reaching and cupping her face with his hand, stroking her cheek tenderly,

"I wouldn't mind being stranded with you either" Carla said, leaning in closer to him, Peter leaned in and kissed her lips gently, giving her the opportunity to pull away but she didn't, she wrapped her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss, both of them completely lost in the moment.

As if suddenly realising what she was doing, Carla pulled away,

"Peter was that really a good idea?" She said nervously, "I'm sorry if I've given you mixed signals, it'll be messing with your head, I'm sorry" Carla panicked, worrying that this would change their friendship.

"Carla, calm down, it's okay, you didn't give me any mixed signals, I'm sorry if I overstepped the mark, I guess we both just got a bit lost in the moment"

"Yeah.. I better get going anyway, it's getting late"

"Oh okay, I am sorry Carla, I really hope this hasn't changed anything"

"Of course not, don't worry about it, let's just say we were both feeling lonely, we'll forget about it okay?"

"Yeah, I'll see you soon yeah?"

"Yeah, bye"

Carla walked over to her car parked at the factory and drove home, not being able to remove what happened from her mind. When she got home, she changed into her pyjamas and sat on the sofa with a glass of wine. She cursed herself for taking advantage of Peter when he was vulnerable like that, he had just broken up with his wife, what was she doing kissing him like that? She should have pulled away immediately, she had probably messed with his head. All of these thoughts were spinning in her mind but deep down she couldn't deny that she did feel attracted to him, she couldn't hide the fact she had felt butterflies as his lips met hers. She had to shake this off, she had to forget about it and go on as normal. As friends. Her mind cast back to what Peter had said to her just before they kissed, and she felt special. Was she really developing feelings for him? No, she couldn't, the poor man has just had his life turned upside down, she can't complicate things any more. Little did she know, Peter was in his flat thinking the same thing.

Peter was sat in darkness in his flat, thinking about the events that had occured that night. Ever since he first laid eyes on Carla all those years ago when she had first came to Weatherfield, there was no denying she was absoloutley gorgeous. But it was only since getting to know her recently that he realised what a special person she actually was. He had appreciated everything she had done for him over the last week and didn't want to ruin the friendship that was developing between them and thinking back, kissing her was a bad idea. How could he be so stupid to risk their friendship over this, he hadn't long split from Leanne, his mind was all over the place. But she didn't pull away, he gave her the opportunity not to kiss him back but she did.. he couldn't help but think, maybe she was feeling the same, maybe she had an attraction towards him like he did to her.. No. That couldn't be true. Like she said, they were both lonely, just caught up in the moment.. He had to forget about it and go on as normal. She meant a great deal to him for the short time they had spent together and didn't want to ruin their friendship just as it was beginning.

* * *

Hope you enjoyed that chapter! Please let me know what you think! :)


	8. Chapter 8

A few days later and Carla and Peter hadn't seen that much of each other, only in passing on the street but had been texting each other regularly to keep in contact. They had both tried to put the kiss behind them and move on as friends. Today was the day of Carla's meeting with Frank Foster about the order that Underworld was currently working on. Carla was in the office at the factory, printing off some spreadsheets in preparation for their meeting in an hour when her phone vibrated. She took it from her handbag and smiled when she noticed a text from Peter.

_Peter: Hey, you free to meet for lunch today? X_

Carla quickly replied to the text:

_Carla: Sure, sounds good x_

Almost immediately she got a reply,

_Peter: What time suits you? X_

_Carla: I have a meeting this morning so I won't be b ack till about 12:30, is 1 in the Rovers okay for you? X_

_Peter: Great, see you then x_

Carla put her phone away, looking forward to having lunch with Peter later, they hadn't met up and spoke properly for a few days and would be good to catch up.  
"Mrs Connor, would you like a coffee?" Carla was interrupted from her thoughts by Hayley entering the office.  
"No thanks Hayles, I best be off anyway, I have a meeting with Frank in half an hour"  
"Oh okay, everything alright with the order?"  
"Yeah everything's going great, he wants to talk delivery schedules, I think its pretty striaghtforward to be honest, could be done over the phone but he insists on a meeting"  
"Okay, do you need an update of how many units we've done?"  
"Yeah that would be great thanks Hayley, i'm going to go and check what's going on in packing, the last batch of the order for Mr Lewis is due out by the end of today."

A few hours later and Carla was sat in a posh restaurant in town waiting for Frank to arrive. She didn't know why but she felt quite nervous about the meeting, not so much about the order but more what Frank was going to suggest. The last two times they had met he had suggested they go for a drink or go for lunch, she dreaded to think what he was going to ask her next.

She caught sight of him entering the restaurant across the room and making his way over to where she was sitting. She put on her best fake smile and stood up to greet him.  
"Carla" he said, leaning over and kissing her cheek, "how lovely to see you"  
"And you, how are you?"  
"All the better for seeing you" Frank smirked, "can I get you a drink"  
"Just a water please"

Frank ordred their drinks and sat down, opening up hiss briefcase and getting out a piece of paper. He placed it down directly in front of Carla. "Delivery schedule".  
"I thought you wanted to discuss it?" Carla asked, slightly confused about why they were even meeting if Frank had already made a delivery schedule.  
"Well we can if you want. That's the schedule I would like, providing it's okay with you, that's all that needs done really"  
Carla picked up the piece of paper, scanning over it to check that dates were realistic for the order to be done by.  
"From what I can see, that should be fine, if you email me a copy then i'll make sure you're order arrives by these dates."  
"Great, that's that sorted then"  
"So why did you really want me to come here?" Carla asked suspiciously, not sure of Frank's intentions.  
"I wanted to apologise for last week. I'll admit, maybe I did come on a bit too strong"  
"I think that's the understateent of the year, I don't need you checking up on me Frank" Carla said seriously, "I don't want you just turning up at the factory like that, if you need a meeting then fine, call or email me and we'll schedule it."  
"Okay fair enough. But that's not the only reason I came here today" Frank said,  
"Oh really? What's your other reason then?" Carla asked, growing more and more suspicious of him  
"I want to increase the order"  
"You what?!" Carla said, shocked.  
"I want to increase my order" Frank repeated  
"Yeah I heard you, but surely you'd want at least the first batch delivered bofe you consider increasing it"  
"I thought you'd be happy" Frank said, confused at Carla's attitude.  
"Well I am, i just wasn't expecting that, we've barely even started the order and you're increasing it already"  
"I happen to really like the business that you've set up, I have no doubt that what you produce will impress me, so I thought why not increase the order, if you want i can take my business elsewhere" Frank said,  
"You don't have to do that" Carla said, panicking that he would cancel the order he had already placed. "How many more units are we talking? an extra 1000, 2000?"  
"Double." Frank said, shocking Carla into silence.  
"Right.. well I don't see how it would be a problem, all the deadlines you've planned will have to be changed, we can't doulbe everything and deliver it in the same amount of time."  
"Of course not, I wouldn't be expecting you to" Frank said, "but now we have got delivery schedules to talk about haven't we?" he smirked, "why don't we do it over lunch?"  
Carla glanced at her watch realising it was 12:40, she was supposed to be meeting Peter in twenty minutes.  
"I can't today i'm afriad, I've got to be somewhere" she said, standing up and taking her coat from the back of the chair. "can we arrange it for another time?"  
"Sure, just give me a call" Frank said, annoyed that his plan had once again failed, but he learned from last time he needed to do things Carla's way or else she would cancel the order. "Can I give you lift to wherever you're going?" he offered poiltely,  
"It's okay, I have my car, thanks though" she smiled politeld at him, "I'll speak to you soon then"  
"yeah, pleasure doing business with you Carla" he said, smirking as he watched her leave the restaurant. He waited for a minute before leaving the restaurant, getting in his car and following her.

Carla had just arrived back on Coronation Street and was heading into the Rover's, cursing herself for being fifteen minutes late for lunch with Peter. She went into the pub and spotted Peter sat at one of the tables and went over to join him.  
"Hi" she smiled, "I'm so sorry i'm late, my meeting ran over a bit and the traffic on he way back was a nightmare"  
"It's okay, you're here now, sit down i'll get us a drink"  
"Not it's alright, i'll get these, orange juice is it?"  
"Yeah please" Peter replied, as Carla went over to the bar.

A short while later, Carla returned with their drinks and took a seat opposite Peter, handing Peter his orange juice.  
"Thanks, how was you're meeting?" Peter asked,  
"Strage" Carla replied, taking a sip of her drink,  
"How come? It was that Frank again wasn't it, I hope he wasn't hastling you" Peter said,  
"No.. he doubled the order"  
"Doubled it?!" Peter said, shocked, "that's a good thing isnt it?"  
"Well yeah but I don't know, it's probably nothing but I have a strange feeling about this"  
"How come?"  
"Well we haven't even delivered the first batch to him yet and he's doubled the order, for all he knows the stuff he ordered could be rubbish"  
"He must have given you a reason why he doubled it?"  
"He said he likes the business.. I like plenty of businesses, doesn't mean I would double my order if I hadn't even seen their producs first."  
"Yeah you've got a point I suppose, just take it as a compliment that he has faith in you to deliver what he wants"  
"Yeah I guess you're right, anyway, enough about me and Frank, are you not working in the bookies today?"  
"I was this morning, but Dierdre's covering for the afternoon, I've got an appointment with my solicitor"  
"You're solicitor?" Carla asked,  
"Yeah, i've filed for divorce from Leanne" Peter said,  
"Peter i'm so sorry, so there's definitely no way back for you two then?" Carla asked,  
"Definitely not, I can't take her back after everything she's done. It's time for me to forget about me and Leanne, it was good while it lasted but it's time for me to move on with my life, fresh start"  
"That sounds positive" Carla smiled, "how's Simon?"  
"He's alright, he went back to school the other day, I think it's helped to take his mind off of everything"  
"Yeah, it'll do him good to be back with his friends"

Peter and Carla chatted over lunch for an hour before Carla had to go back to work and Peter went to meet with his solicitor.  
"As much as I would love to sit here all day. i'm going to have to go back to work" Carla said, "they'll be running riot over there, providing they haven't taken an extra lunch break because i'm not there" Carla laughed,  
"Okay, i'll walk you over if you want" Peter said,  
"You don't have to do that"  
"I want to. I've got another twenty minutes before I need to leave for my meeting anyway"  
"Come on then" Carla smiled, as she got up and put her coat on.

Outside the Rover's, Frank had parked his car out of view down the street, waiting for Carla to come out of the pub. He kept his eyes on her as he noticed her coming out of the door but felt a huge wave of anger wash over him when he realised that she was with a man. As far as he knew she was single, this would mess up everything. He wanted her to be his and no one elses. He became more and more angry when he saw her laughing along with him, looking like they were having a good time.

"Thank you for lunch, I had a really good time" Carla said as they reached the factory.  
"Me too, we should do it again sometime"  
"Yeah that would be nice. Good luck with you're meeting, I hope it goes well.. as well as it can when you're filing for divorce. I know this won't be easy for you but things will get better. What's that quote.. An arrow can only be shot by pulling ti backwards, so when life is dragging you back with difficulties, it means that it's going to launch you into something great"  
"That's so cheesy" Peter laughed,  
"made you smile though didn't it?"  
"Yeah, thanks, come here" Peter said, hugging Carla tightly, "enjoy work"  
"I'll try" she laughed, "let me know how you get on yeah?"  
"Yeah will do, i'll text you later"  
"Okay, bye" Carla turned round and walked into the factory, whilst Peter stood there watching her, oblivious to Frank who was a few metres away, watching them.

Frank was filled with jealousy and envy watching Carla and Peter, seeing the obvious chemistry they had. If he was going to have Carla, he would have to move fast.

* * *

Coming up.. Will Peter and Carla continue to try to ignore their obvious feelings for each other? And what will Frank's next move be?

Please review and let me know what you think of that chapter. Thank you for the review, follows and favourites so far! :)


	9. Chapter 9

The next morning, Carla was in the factory, about to give the girls the news that the order was being doubled. Frank had called her that morning and convinced her to go to dinner with him later that week to discuss the new order. Reluctantly she agreed, hoping that would be the last she heard of him for a while, although she couldn't deny she was dreading the thought of having to spend the evening with him. As she noticed her workers shuffling in through the door, she got up from her desk and made her way out of the office.

"Right listen up everyone, slight change of plan. As you know, I had another meeting with Frank Foster and things have changed a bit"

"He hasn't pulled the order has he?!" Sean asked concerned

"Oh no, quite the opposite actually. He's doubled it.", the shock on all their faces mirrored her own shock the previous day when Frank had told her, "and believe me I was just as shocked as you lot, so we're going to be very busy these next few months and this order should take us right up to Christmas. So get cracking please ladies!" She said, turning round and going back into the office.

Out on the factory floor some time later, the staff were on a tea break and discussing the recent news of the order.

"I can't believe that order's been doubled, Carla will have us working flat out" Beth moaned, taking a drink of her tea

"We'll think yourself lucky Beth, I'd rather be working hard than having no work to go to" Fiz said,

"She's got a point!" Sean said, "there's no use complaining or Carla will have us down the job centre."

"Yeah I suppose you're right.. Do you reckon that Frank bloke fancies her? I think that's why he's doubled the order, just so he can spend more time with her" Beth smirked

"And he takes her to lunch, but it's a bit far fetched just to get an extra few meetings out of her, this place must be making thousands out of him" Sean exclaimed,

"Well he doesn't look like a bloke that's short of cash" Sally said joining the conversation.

"I just hope Mrs Connor doesn't get too involved with him, things never usually end well when she starts sleeping with her business partners" Fiz said,

"Fiz!"

"Well it's true" Fiz defended herself, "look what happened with Tony Gordon!" Beth said,

"He was a one off him" Sean said, "that man definitely had a screw loose, not all business men are head cases"

"I got to admit though, from what I've seen he is a bit weird that new guy, did you see the way he was looking at Carla the other day when he came in, like a dog looking at dog food" Beth said

"Yeah, I wouldn't worry about it, if anyone knows how to handle a man it's Carla" Sean said, "it's probably morning to worry about, we should be grateful for his cash, without him we might not have any work"

"Yeah you're right" Fiz said,

"Okay on that note, let's get back to work" Hayley said, gathering up the cups as everyone made their way back to their machines.

The machinists continued to work hard on the order all through the morning and it was now approaching lunchtime.

"Right ladies, you can all get off on your lunch break, be back in an hour please"

Everyone left the factory and Carla made her way back into the office to continue with the accounts she was working on.

Not long later and Carla heard the factory door opening. Probably one of the girls forgotten something. She was pleasantly surprised when she heard Peter's voice echo through the factory.

"Carla? You in here?" He said, looking in to the office and noticing the place was empty.

"Under here" Carla called from under the desk where she was fiddling with the wires of the computer,

Peter opened the office door and walked in, carrying a bag from Roy's.

"What are you doing on the floor?!" he asked, trying not to laugh

"This computers playing up so I'm trying to fix it. I thought maybe something wasn't connected so I tried to fix it, still won't work though"

"What's up with it?"

"Oh I don't know, something about a connection, it won't let me onto the internet. What are you doing here anyway?"

"I was just talking to Sean and he said it looked like you were working through your lunch break so I thought I'd bring some lunch to you. "

"Aww you didn't have to do that" Carla said, touched by his kindness.

"I wanted to. Is a bacon buttie alright for you?"

"Oh well that depends if you've got ketchup on it?"

"Of course"

"Perfect, just the way I like it, thank you. Would you like a coffee? I was just about to make one"

"Yeah go on then, thanks"

Carla left the office and returned a few minutes later with two cups of coffee, handing one to Peter.

"Thank you, now why don't you sit yourself down and eat your lunch, I'll see what I can do with this computer" he said, taking Carla's place at the desk and looking at the computer.

"I don't know what's happened to it, it was fine this morning then just stopped working, I've been trying to get it to work for the last hour" Carla said, sitting in the other office chair and picking up the bag Peter had brought from Roy's.

"There's the problem" Peter said, after fifteen minutes of trying to fix the computer, "your internet access has been turned off, how did you manage that?"

"I don't know"

"Well it's turned back on now so it should be working fine"

"Really?! Thank you" Carla said, "what would I do withou you? Bringing me lunch and fixing my computer, my knight in shining armour, well, night in a faded leather jacket, but that doesn't sound as good"

"Yeah, stick to knight in shinning armour, sounds more heroic" Peter laughed, "I came here to ask you something actually"

"Oh yeah? What's that then"

"What are you doing tonight?"

"Nothing, why?"

"Would you come for a walk with me?"

"Where to?" She asked curiously,

"That's a surprise"

"Oh very mysterious.. You know I don't really like surprises but since it's you, as long as it's not somewhere muddy and horrible"

"It's not, but I wouldn't recommend wearing your heels"

"Peter! I told you I don't go anywhere without my heels" Carla joked, "but I will make an exception this one time"

"Great, I'll pick you up at 8"

"8?! Peter it'll be dark by then! I don't fancy a walk in the dark, anyone could be lurking about, and if I don't know where we're going"

"Carla, trust me" he laughed, "it's not the same in the day time, we need to go when it's dark"

"Okay, this better be good Peter"

"It will be, I promise"

"Okay, well I'll see you at 8, you better make a move before that lot get back from their lunch break"

"Yeah, see you later"

Peter left the factory, leaving Carla wondering where on earth he was going to take her that night.

It was now 7:30 and Peter was dropping Simon off at Ken and Dierdre's.

"Thanks for having him tonight" Peter said, as Simon ran upstairs to join Amy who was also being looked after by Ken and Deirdre that night.

"It's no problem, we had Amy anyway. How are you?" Ken asked,

"I'm fine thanks" Peter replied,

"Are you sure?"

"Yes I'm sure, actually I'm more than fine, I've realised that Leanne wasn't good for me Dad, divorce proceedings have started and I know that what Leanne did was awful but I'm starting to think it was a good thing that she cheated on me"

"How do you mean?" Deirdre asked, joining the conversation.

"Well she's made me realise who she really is, I'll never forgive her for what she's done to me and to Simon but I reckon something good will come of this" Peter said smiling,

"Peter what are you on about?" Ken asked,

"What I mean dad, is that Leanne and I were never going to work and she's better off with Nick, so it's time for me to move on with my life, for my sake and for Simon's" Peter said,

"Have you fallen for someone else?" Deirdre asked, confused as to why Peter was so happy.

"Well not exactly" Peter said, "well kind of.."

"Peter it has been only a few weeks since you split up with Leanne" Ken reminded him,

"I know that dad, but she's moved on, she moved in with Nick the day after we split up! What does that tell you? There's no way back for us so it's time for me to move on as well."

"Well I'm happy if you're happy Peter, just remember to think of Simon too, that little lad has had enough upset in his life already"

"Yeah I know, Simon will always be my main priority Dad, I'll make sure he doesn't get hurt in all this. Anyway I best be off, I'll pick Simon up in the morning."

"Okay, bye Peter"

Peter left number one and walked round to Carla's flat, ringing the buzzer.

"Come up!" Carla said from the other side and the door opened, allowing Peter to go up to her flat.

The door was already open so Peter made his way inside.

"Hi" Carla said happily as he came in. "You'll be pleased to see there is no sign of heels" she said, pointing to her ugg boots that were on her feet.

"Good, wouldn't want you injuring yourself in those boots" he said, gesturing to Carla's high heeled boots which she had left by the door.

"Is it cold outside?"

"Not really, you'll be fine with just a jumper on I think"

"Well if I get frostbite I'm blaming you"

"Carla it's July, I don't think it's cold enough for frostbite" he laughed

"It's England we live in Peter, it could end up snowing by the time we get back, you never know what weather you're going to get"

"Well I suppose you're right" he laughed, come on then, let's get going.

Both of them left Carla's flat, Peter leading the way past the red reck and through a little forest. As they reached the edge of the forest there was what looked like an empty building in the distance.

"Are we there yet?" Carla asked

"Almost" Peter replied, "just up here a bit"

"Tell me you're not taking me to that building?"

"Just follow me" Peter said as they arrived at an old abandoned building.

"Peter are you sure this is safe? Is there nobody else around?"

"I've been coming here for ages and not seen a single person, I promise you it's safe, I would have brought you here otherwise" Carla smiled back and followed him inside.

Both of them went into the building, climbing up a flight of old stairs leading to the second floor where there was some steps leading up to the roof.

"Those steps don't look to steady, they're only made of wood" Carla said, following Peter towards the roof.

"Okay, follow me and step onto that bit of wood there and up onto the roof" Peter said, doing what he had just explained to Carla and stepping out into the roof.

"Peter what if it snaps"

"Carla if it can take my weight it can take yours, come on, I promise I you it's fine"

Carla stood looking reluctant, "here, take my hand I'll help you up".

Without hesitation, Carla reached out and gripped Peter's hand, allowing him to help her up. Peter could feel Carla holding his hand tightly as she reached the roof. By the time they had found a comfortable spot to sit on the roof they realised they were still holding hands and quickly let go.

"I told you it was safe" Peter said, as they reached his spot. As Carla sat down she looked over to see the sky full of stars and could see all the lights of Manchester in the distance,

"Now do you see why we came when it's dark?" Peter asked,

"Wow, this is so pretty at night, how did you know about this place?"

"I was out a walk one time and came across this building on the way home, I come here quite often wherever I feel like a need to clear my head or feel tempted to drink. It's really peaceful"

"Yeah it is" Carla agreed, "right, what is it then?" She asked

"What do you mean?"

"Well there must be a reason why you brought me all the way here to an old abondined building" she laughed, "is everything okay?"

"Yeah, erm.. I just wanted to spend some time with you and talk"

"Talk about what?" Carla asked,

"Well erm.. The other night when we.. You know.."

"When we kissed?"

"Yeah"

"Peter I'm so sorry about that, I should never have given you mixed signals or anything I must have messed with your head, as if you haven't been through enough already" Carla rambled on

"Carla stop" Peter said, "just let me talk please?"

"Sorry" Carla apologised

"I'm not very good at this stuff" Peter said nervously, "but that kiss, I know you probably think it shouldn't have happened, but I felt something that night, and I have ever since, I can't stop thinking about you Carla" he said truthfully

"Really?" Carla asked shocked,

"You look surprised, oh god I've probably screwed up, you're not going to want to be friends anymore after hearing that"

"Peter. I'm a shocked because.. well.. I felt something too"

"Wait what? Really?!"

"Yeah, I just didn't want to say anything because of everything that's going on, I didn't want to make things more difficult for you"

"Don't worry about that, that's getting sorted, divorce precedings have started with Leanne and there's no way we'll get back together, I did love Leanne but I can never forgive her for what she's done to me. I know you might think this is all a bit sudden and I only split with Leanne a few weeks ago but I don't think I've ever felt this way before Carla. When I'm with you, you make me feel happy, you make me forget about everything with Leanne, you make me not tempted to drink, you make me feel like I've never felt before"

Carla didn't know what to say, she just smiled in response, unable to believe that they had had feelings for each other that both were scared to admit to.

"You know what, I don't think I've been truly happy in a long time, but these last few weeks I've spent with you, I think I have been. My heart beats a bit faster when you walk into the room. You're such an amazing person, I'd love to get the chance to make you happy"

"You do make me happy" Peter smiled, "I want to be there for you, to protect you, to be your knight in a faded leather jacket" Peter laughed, "so what do you say? why don't we give it a go, us, and see what happens."

"I'd like that" Carla smiled,

"But I think it's best we keep it to ourselves at the moment, just until things settle down, I don't want to make things any more confusing for Simon"

"Yeah of course, that's a good idea", Carla agreed, as Peter leaned in and placed a gentle, loving kiss on her lips. Carla then leaned forward, cupping his face with her hands and kissing him, both of them making the kiss more passionate every second that passed. Once again, they were sat, this time overlooking the stars, lost in their own world.


	10. Chapter 10

The next morning, Carla woke up in her flat after Peter had walked her home the night before. She still couldn't quite believe what had happened and that they were actually together. She rolled over in bed and picked up her phone that was laying on the bedside table. Her lips curled into a smile as she noticed a text from Peter,

Peter: Morning beautiful x

She quickly typed a reply and checked the other message that was from Michelle asking if she wanted to have lunch later that day.

She then scrolled through her emails and came across one from Frank.

Frank: Hi Carla, just checking that the order is going okay. Are we still on for dinner tomorrow night? Ive booked a table for 6:00.

She was dreading having dinner with him and had forgotten about it until reading his email. She quickly wrote a reply,

Carla: yeah 6:00 is fine, see you then.

After a long morning at the factory, made slightly more bearable by texting Peter throughout the morning, Carla was on her way to the Rover's for lunch with Michelle. She entered the pub and over to the bar where Michelle was serving,

"Hiya" Michelle said happily, "I'll be finished in two minutes, sit down and I'll bring your drink over"

Carla went over and sat at an empty table where Michelle appeared a few minutes later carrying two glasses of red wine.

"You alright?" Michelle asked sitting down at the table with Carla

"Yeah great thanks, you?"

"Yeah not to bad. You look happy today" Michelle said, noticing Carla's beaming smile that hadn't left her face since she entered the pub

"Do I? Well I am" Carla smiled,

"Any particular reason?" Michelle smirked

"Maybe" Carla said, enjoying winding her up

"Aww come on Car, tell me"

"Who said there was anything to tell?"

"You're not usually this happy" Michelle said curiously,

"Are you trying to say I'm miserable?" Carla laughed,

"No, you just look happier than usual"

"Just having a good day."

Michelle seemed to accept that as an answer and started talking about something else.

"I was thinking, why don't we have a night out soon"

"I never turn down a night out. Give me a day and time I'll be there" Carla said,

"What about Friday night? We haven't been out for ages"

"Yeah sounds good, where will we go?"

"That new cocktail bar that's opened in town looks good"

Carla and Michelle continued to talk over lunch and plan their night out that weekend.

Later that day about 6:00 Carla was at her flat, sitting watching tv with a glass of wine having just got in from work when her phone rang. Her heart beat quickened a bit and a smile appeared on her face when Peter's name flashed across the screen.

"Hello" Carla answered the phone,

"Hey, are you busy?"

"No just sat at home watching tv why?"

"I'm just about to take Simon out for pizza, do you want to come?"

"Have you checked it's alright with Simon, he might just want a night with his dad?" Carla asked,

"Yeah he said he'd like you to come"

"Yeah alright, I'll come"

"Great, I'll pick you up in 20 minutes"

"Alright, see you soon"

Carla hung up and quickly went to get ready for her evening with Peter and Simon, changing from her work outfit to something a bit more casual. Before long, the buzzer rang and Peter and Simon were at the door of her flat.

"Hi Carla" Simon said happily, following his dad into Carla's flat.

"Hi darling" Carla smiled, ruffling his curls,

"We ready to go then love?" Peter asked,

"Yeah, let's go then"

Carla grabbed her handbag and the three of them went out to Peter's car and started driving into town.

Back at the Rovers Michelle was serving behind the bar when Frank came in.

"Hello again" he smiled, "can I have a pint please?"

"Yeah sure"

"Has Carla been in today?" Frank asked,

"Not since this afternoon why?"

"Just wondering, needed to ask her something about work"

"Oh okay, well she might be in later"

"Right, thanks" Frank said, hoping that Carla would make an appearance later on in the night, little did he know she was out enjoying a lovely evening with Peter and Simon.

In town, Carla, Peter and Simon had just finished their pizza and the three of them were chatting.

"How's school Simon?" Carla asked,

"It's alright, quite boring. Did you like school Carla"

"Can't say I did Simon, no" Carla laughed, "are you enjoying being back with your friends?"

"Yeah it's great, I started on the football team this week"

"Yeah, he takes it after me, I was a great footballer when I was your age" Peter said,

"Oh I bet you were" Carla laughed, "what were you the referee?"

"I'll have you know I was very sporty when I was younger"

"Hmm I'll believe that when I see it" Carla laughed, "here Si, why don't you go and get yourself an ice cream?", she said taking out her purse and handing him some money.

"Thanks Carla!"

"Hey, am I not getting any ice cream?" Peter joked,

"Aww do you want some? Simon get your dad some as well please darling"

"Okay, do you want one too Carla?"

"No I'm alright thanks love"

"You can have some of mine" Peter said,

"Aww well isn't that nice of you" Carla laughed,

"Well you know, sharing's caring and all that"

As Simon went over to ask the waitress for some ice cream, Peter slipped his hand into Carla's under the table.

"Thanks for coming with us tonight"

"Thanks for inviting me, I've had a lovely time"

"So have I"

Simon returned to the table and sat down, Peter and Carla dropping each other's hands.

"Did you get it alright mate?" Peter asked,

"Yeah, the lady said she would bring it over".

After a few minutes, a waitress brought over two bowls of ice cream and placed them down on the table. Peter took a spoonful of it and mischievous grin appeared on his face.

He smelled the ice cream and looked across the table at Simon.

"Is that a different ice cream from last time Si, it smells great, Carla smell that"

Simon smirked, picking up on what his dad was going to do.

"Doesn't it just smell like normal ice cream" Carla said, confused,

"No it smells different, smell it"

Carla leaned over and went to smell the ice cream and Peter shoved the spoon in her face, covering her nose in ice cream,

"Peter! That's freezing!" She said, wiping the ice cream off in her hand and trying to put it on Peter's face.

Peter held up his hands and grabbed her wrist to try and stop her but she used her other hand to take some ice cream and wipe it across is chin, causing the three of them to burst I to fits of laughter.

Later on, Carla, Peter and Simon were in the car on their way home from having dinner.

"I don't think the table across from us appreciated our ice cream fight do you?" Peter laughed

"No, did you see the look we got from that woman. It was your fault anyway, I can't believe I fell for that, I should have known you were going to do that, it's the oldest trick in the book"

"I think you managed to get me back though, you did get ice cream all down my shirt so thanks for that"

"Don't lie Peter that was you, you're so sloppy, even your seven year old son made less mess than you." Carla said as they pulled up outside Carla's flat.

"Well thanks for tonight" Carla said, leaning over and hugging Peter, whispering in his ear, "when can I next see you?"

"I'll call you tomorrow"

"Okay, speak to you soon then, bye Simon"

"Bye!"

Peter sat for a few minutes in the car, watching Carla leave and make her way into the building, letting a smile appear on his face. He was snapped out of his daydream by Simon,

"Dad, are we going now?"

"Yeah, sorry son, come on then, let's get home" Peter said, starting the engine and driving away.

Later on, Carla was back in her flat, sitting watching tv with a glass of wine when the phone rang. She picked it up and answered it, seeing Michelle's name on the screen.

"Hiya Chelle"

"Hey, you alright?"

"Yeah good you?"

"Yeah I'm alright, what you up to?"

"Not much, I've not long got home. You?"

"Still working, just on a break so I thought I'd give you a call and have a gossip. Have you spoken to Frank?"

"No, why would I have spoken to him?"

"I thought he would have called you, he came into the pub earlier looking for you, said he needed to ask you something about work"

"Oh did he? Did he not say what it was?"

"No, he didn't say, something about the order"

"Well he'll probably tell me tomorrow, he's pretty much forced me into dinner with him, not that I want to go"

"Well don't go if you don't want to, you don't have to do anything you don't want to, even if it is to please one of your clients"

"It's not that simple Michelle, he won't leave me alone about it, if I go then hopefully that'll shut him up"

"Or just make him ask even more if he thinks you actually want to go"

"Yeah I suppose, I've agreed to go now though, so I'll just have to see what happens"

"I don't know what to think of that bloke, he's a bit desparate if you ask me, you maybe shouldn't get involved with him", Michelle said, her voice laced with concern for her best friend.

"Well it's too late for that now, I'm going to have to work with him at least for the next six months and believe me there's not one part of me that wants to"

"Well as long as you know what your doing. I worry about you having to deal with all these sleazy guys"

"I'll be fine Michelle, I'm a big girl"

"Doesn't stop me worrying though"

"Michelle I'm going out for dinner with him, what's the worst he could do?"

"Yeah I suppose, just be careful yeah?"

"I will, don't worry, now get back to work there'll be a queue out the door at this rate"

"Okay, speak to you soon"

"Yeah, I'll call you tomorrow when I get home"

After her phonecall with Michelle, Carla couldn't help but think about what she said, maybe she was better to get out of this while she could.

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Please review! Thank you so much for the reviews on the last chapter! More drama to come from Frank in the next few chapters...


	11. Chapter 11

The next day around lunch time, Carla was working in the office in the factory when Peter appeared in the doorway.

"Afternoon Mrs Connor"

"Hi Mr Barlow"

"How late do you keep your staff? I've been waiting on them to leave for about twenty minutes, it's nearly two o'clock, bit late for lunch"

"Yeah I know, they were behind on the order so I made them stay late to finish it. And anyway, you need to learn to be patient. She said, standing up and walking round to the other side of the desk. She sat up on the desk and Peter stood between her legs, leaning in and kissing her lips.

"I've waited for days to do that"

"So have I, you see, be patient and you'll get what you want" Carla said between kisses.

"I've been thinking" Peter said,

"Careful"

"Why don't we get away for a few days?"

"Where?"

"I don't know, wherever you want, we don't have to go now, but I just thought it would be nice to go away"

"Yeah that would be nice, I could be doing with a few days away from here"

"We'll have a think about where you'd like to go and we'll try and arrange something in a few weeks time"

"Yeah that sounds great. I think it would do us both good"

"Yeah it would. I need to go love, I've got another meeting with my solicitor and Leanne to go over the divorce settlement"

"Aww really? That's not fun, I would offer to come with you but I don't think it would help do you?"

"No, it'll probably just cause Leanne to kick off, thanks though"

"Let me know how it goes. I wish I could see you tonight but I'm meeting Frank."

"Why don't we have a night in tomorrow? I'll get my dad and Dierdre to look after Simon and we can get a takeaway and watch a movie?"

"Sounds perfect, can't wait"

"Okay, well I'll text you later"

Peter kissed Carla goodbye before heading into town for his meeting as Carla went back to work for the afternoon.

Later that day, around 4:30, Carla was on her way out of the factory, leaving Hayley to lock up when she saw Dierdre walking down the road with Simon.

"Carla!" Simon shouted, running across the street,

"Hi Simon" Carla said, hugging him, "you're late home from school today, did you stay for football?"

"No, my dad didn't pick my up so grandma Dierdre had to come"

"Oh", Carla immediately started to worry about Peter, wondering why he hadn't been there to pick up Simon.

"Simon, why don't you go back to my house, you're Grandad's home, you can tell him all about your day at school, I just need to speak to Carla"

"Okay grandma"

Simon ran off and Deirdre watched him as he crossed the street, making sure he got into the house okay before turning back to Carla. She knew Peter and Carla had became close friends recently and Peter would have told her about his meeting.

"Where's Peter?" Carla asked, "did his meeting run over?"

"I don't know, it might have" Deirdrr replied, thinking about where Peter might be.

"Well he did say he would let me know how it went and I haven't heard from him yet so he must still be in there"

Just at that moment, Carla and Deirdre saw Leanne walking out of the bistro.

"That must mean the meetings finished then" Deirdre said, "I'll go and ask Leanne."

"Leanne, when did your meeting finish?" Deirdre asked her,

"About an hour ago" Leanne said bluntly

"Right, you haven't any idea where Peter's gone?"

"No. I wouldn't be surprised if he's drowning his sorrows, I don't think he's very happy with the outcome of the meeting" she smirked,

"Why not? Did it not go well?"

"You best speak to Peter" Leanne said, before walking off.

Carla's heart sank at the thought of Peter drinking again, knowing how well he had done staying off it. And her mind was working overtime trying to work out what Leanne was on about and where Peter could be.

"Where on earth could he have gone?" Deirdre said, starting to panic.

"I don't know, but I'm sure everything will be fine, I'll help you find him"

"Are you sure? Haven't you got plans?"

"Nothing that can't be cancelled" Carla said, secretly relieved that she was getting out of dinner with Frank.

"Thank you" Deirdre said gratefully, "why don't we go back to mine and tell Ken what's happening and we'll decide what to do"

"Yeah, come on then" Carla said, as she followed Deirdre back to number one.

About half an hour later, Carla and Deridre had explained the situation to Ken when Carla suddenly remembered her and Peter's walk.

"Peter and I went a walk the other day, and he took me to this place where he says he sometimes goes to think, maybe he's gone there because he has a lot on his mind"

"Yeah maybe, do you know how to get there?"

"Yeah, it's not far"

"Do you want us to come with you?"

"I think it's best if just one of us goes, he might think we're ganging up on him and if he's already feeling under pressure then I think he'll find it easier to talk if it's just one person." Carla explained.

"Yeah I think you're right, it's best you go then, will you let us know when you get there and if you find him"

"Of course I will, I'll call you"

Carla left Ken and Deirdre's and headed towards the place that Peter had taken her a few nights before, hoping that he would be there. She got her phone out of her pocket and called Peter again, going straight to voicemail. She found Frank's number and pressed call to cancel dinner with him that night. Almost immediately Frank answered.

"Hello"

"Hi Frank, it's Carla"

"Hi Carla, how are you?"

"Not to good actually Frank, the thing is, something's come up and I'm going to have to cancel for tonight"

"Really?" Carla could hear the disappointment in his voice and got the feeling that he was a bit annoyed.

"Yeah I'm sorry, we can rearrange for another time though"

"What about tomorrow night?"

"I can't tomorrow night" Carla said, remembering she said she would have a night in with Peter. "Can you do this time next week, this next week is really busy for me, that's the soonest time that I'm free"

"Yeah that's fine, I'll see you next week then"

On the other side of Manchester, having just got off the phone to Carla, Frank was pacing the floor of his apartment, annoyed that he was no longer meeting Carla that night. His plan would have to be postponed until next week, much to his annoyance. He couldn't help but wonder, maybe Carla had got a better offer, maybe she was spending the night with the man she was in the pub with who he had learned was called Peter.

Back in Weatherfield, Carla had just arrived outside the abondoned building hoping that Peter was inside. She went in and climbed the stairs, reaching the steps just below the roof. She stepped on the piece of wood, wishing that she had Peter's hand to hold to help her up. Eventually, she managed to get herself up, stepped out onto the roof and saw Peter sitting with his back to her. She breathed a sigh of relief, so glad that she had found him. Getting closer she could hear muffled sobs as he sat with his head in his hands.

"Peter" she said quietly, getting his attention as he turned round, wiping his eyes. She noticed a cut on the side of his head and drops of blood on his shirt.

"What's wrong darling? Did the meeting not go well?"

He simply shook his head, a few more tears falling down his cheeks.

"What happened to your face?"

"I had a drink and got in a fight with some bloke in a park"

"Come here" she said, wrapping her arms around him hugging him tightly. "It's okay", she said, gently rubbing her hand in soothing circles on his back.

"Do you want to tell me what's happened?", she could tell he had been drinking, but from what she could tell he was no longer drunk and had sobered up a bit.

Peter composed himself, wiping his eyes and taking a deep breath.

"It's Leanne, she's going to try and get custody of Simon"

"You're kidding?! Can she do that?!" Carla asked, shocked at what Leanne was trying to do.

"The solicitor said she was entitled to apply for custody, it's just whether it gets accepted or not. I could lose my son Carla, hasn't she already taken enough from me?!" Peter said, getting upset again.

"Peter listen to me" Carla said, taking his face in her hands and lovingly stroking his cheek, "she is not going to get custody, they're not going to accept it, no way, you're an amazing dad and she can't take Simon away from you. I'm not going to let her. And anyway, Simon isn't going to want to live with Leanne, he's going to want to stay with his dad, that little boy loves you more than the world"

"But I'm a failure Carla, I'm an alcoholic, what chance have I got, they're just going to think in irresponsible and hand Simon over to Leanne"

"That's not going to happen, yes you have your problems but so does Leanne, she's hardly whiter than white is she, I mean she used to be a prostitite, that's hardly what I would call responsible."

"Yeah I suppose your right"

"I'll be with you every step of the way Peter, and I promise you she's not going to get Simon"

"Thank you. I don't deserve you"

"Of course you do, come on, we'll go back to mine and get you cleaned up and I'll make you a coffee"

Carla took his hand and lead him down from the roof, both of them heading back to Carla's flat hand in hand.

Both of them had arrived back at Carla's flat and Carla was making them both a hot choclolate.

"Here, this will make you feel better" she said, putting two mugs of hot choclolate with cream and marshmallows down on the table. "I'm going to clean that cut on your face, it looks sore.", Carla said, bringing over some cotton wool and a bowl of hot water.

"Come here" she said, gently wiping the dried blood off of his face, causing him to wince as the hot water made contact with his cut.

"Sorry" Carla apologised, finishing off and putting the water on the table. "There you go", she leaned in and placed the gentlest of kisses on his cheek, just below the cut. "Are you okay?"

"Much better now you're here" he said smiling, pulling her closer to him on the sofa. They both snuggled up together, Peter wrapping his arms around Carla and kissing the top of her head.

"How did you know where to find me?"

"You said you go there to think so I thought that's where you'd be if you have a lot on your mind. Try not to worry about everything, I know it's hard but everything will be fine, I promise"

"I hope so. Weren't you meant to be meeting Frank tonight?!" Peter said, suddenly remembering that Carla was meant to be somewhere.

"I was yeah, but you're more important"

"I'm so sorry, you had plans tonight but instead you're looking after me after I stupidly went out and had a drink"

"Peter it's fine, I've rescheduled and I didn't want to go anyway. Why don't you stay here tonight? You're dad and Deirdre said they would have Simon for the night and take him to school tomorrow"

"Is that okay?"

"Of course it is"

After a few hours of talking and just enjoying each other's company, Carla and Peter had both fallen asleep on the sofa in each other's arms.

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Thank you so much for everyone who'a read and reveiwed! Hope you enjoyed that chapter!


	12. Chapter 12

Hope you enjoy the next chapter! Please review, I love to know what people think! Thanks :)

* * *

The next day, Peter and Carla had both gone to work and had agreed to meet again that night at Carla's flat for a night in.

It was 6:00 and Peter was getting ready to go to Carla's and spend the night there. He had dropped Simon off at Ken and Deirdre's and was on his way to Carla's flat. When he arrived, he rung the buzzer and she let him up, leaving the door open for him to come in.

"I've missed you" Carla said, kissing him as soon as he entered the door.

"I've missed you too"

"I'm so looking forward to spending the night with you"

"Me too, I want to hold you in my arms all night" Peter said, as they went over and sat on the sofa.

"What are we watching then?" Peter asked, looking over at Carla's DVD collection.

"Well, I have picked out some I thougt you might like" Carla smirked,

"Oh god, I dread to know what you've picked. It'll be some romantic comedy or chick flick"

"Oh no, much better than that darling"

"Oh no.."

"Disney!" Carla said excitedly, grabbing some DVD's from the side,

"You're such a big kid"

"You love it" Carla said, "okay choice number one: The Little Mermaid"

"No way! I am not watching The Little Mermaid"

"That's fine, there's more to choose from"

"Please say they get better"

"Oh they do, Aladdin, or we could also watch The Lion King"

"I actually quite like The Lion King. As long as you don't sing along to Hakuna Matata"

"You spoil sport. I try and restrain myself, but I'm not making any promises. Lion King it is then" Carla said, putting the DVD on and climbing into the sofa, snuggling up with Peter.

Later on when they were almost at the end of the film, Peter looked down at Carla who was laying with her head against his chest with tears in her eyes.

"Are you crying?!" Peter asked,

"No, just got something in my eye"

"No you haven't, you're crying at the Lion King" Peter laughed,

"Well it's the sad bit, what can I say, gets me every time"

"Aww you really are a big softy under that queen bitch exterior aren't you"

"Don't tell anyone"

"I wonder what that lot at the factory would say if I told them the Lion King made you cry"

"Don't you dare" Carla laughed as Peter wiped her tears.

After the movie finished, they had both had a bit of a cry and despite Peter's protests, had a sing along to Hakuna Matata and were sitting on the sofa content in each other's company.

"Don't you think it's strange that a month ago we barely knew each other?" Peter asked,

"Yeah I suppose it is, and look at us now"

"I know, I've never been this happy in a long time" Peter said smiling,

"Me neither" Carla agreed, taking hold of his hand and linking their fingers together.

"Carla" Peter said, taking her face gently in his hands, "let me take you to bed" he whispered seductively

"I thought you would never ask" Carla smirked, "but are you sure?"

"Of course I am"

"Come on then" she said, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and kissing him passionately, starting to unbutton his shirt as she lead him to her bedroom.

Later on, Carla and Peter were both lying in Carla's bed, exhausted from the nights events.

"You are amazing", Peter said, a huge smile on his face.

"Well I do aim to please, and you aren't too bad yourself" she said, kissing him.

"Shall we have something to eat? I've worked up an appetite after that" Peter laughed,

"Me too, although I would quite happily lie here forever"

"You'll die of starvation love" Peter joked, "but I'll just phone for a delivery and we won't have to get out of bed then will we?"

"Good plan. Although one of us will still have to get up to answer the door"

"You can go. I'll phone and you go to the door"

"Well I'll phone then and you go to the door"

"Too late it's ringing" Peter said as he diaed the number and held the phone to his ear.

"I'll get you back for that" she smirked, waiting until someone answered. As Peter started talking to someone on the other side, Carla positioned herself on top of him and started kissing along his collar bone and his neck. She giggled as she felt his breath hitch and he tried to push her off him. She refused to move and kept going until he was off the phone.

"You are very naughty" he said as he hung up the phone.

"You love it" she laughed,

"I do, but not when I'm on the phone!" He said, grabbing her and starting to tickle her, causing her to squeal and try to wriggle free.

"Peter! Stop it!" she laughed, managing to get away from him and grab a pillow and throw it at him before running off the bed.

"Can't catch me now" she said, running out of the bedroom.

Peter soon caught up with her and scooped her up into his arms, picking her up off the floor and carrying her over to the sofa and throwing her down on the soft cushions, both of them bursting into fits of laughter. After a long time of chasing each other round the flat like a couple of excited teenagers, the buzzer rang.

"Well who's going to go then?" Peter asked,

"I'll race you" Carla said, running to the door and grabbing the receiver.

The next morning, Peter woke in Carla's bed. She was still asleep and he just lay there watching her, smiling at now peaceful and beautiful she looked. He had lost track of how long he had lay there watching her.

As if sensing that he was watching her, a smile appeared on her face as her eyes fluttered open.

"Morning" Peter said, kissing the top of her head.

"Morning. What time is it?"

"I don't know" Peter said, not having bothered to check when he woke up.

"How long have you been awake?"

"A while, didn't want to wake you, I was just watching you sleeping, you looked so peaceful, so beautiful"

"There's nothing beautiful about me first thing in the morning Peter" she said, blushing slightly, "certainly not before I've had my coffee and woken up a bit"

"I'll go and make you one, you stay in bed for a bit longer"

"Thank you" Carla said sleepily, pulling the duvet back around herself as Peter got up to make her coffee.

After fifteen minutes Carla got up out of bed and put on her dressing gown, wondering where Peter had got to with her coffee. She tried to hide a laugh as she walked through to the kitchen and saw him fiddling with the coffee machine, obviously not knowing how to work it.

"Do you want me to make it?"

"No, I can handle this" Peter said, still trying to get it to work but failing miserably and eventually giving up. "Actually, yeah you make it" he said, turning round and hugging Carla, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close to him.

"Wouldn't it be nice to go into Roy's just now and have breakfast?"

"We can if you want? But I did think you had higher standards than that" he said, making Carla laugh,

"No I mean we didn't have to hide anything, like nobody would give us a funny look if I held your hand."

"Or if we were gazing into each other's eyes like a couple of daft kids. I wish we didn't have to sneak around like this"

"I don't want to pressure you into telling people Peter, I'll wait as long as you want. I'd be quite happy to sneak around for the rest of our lives if I still have you."

"Why don't we start telling people soon, obviously I'm going to have to sit Simon down and tell him first, but I don't want to be sneaking around anymore either, I want to be proud to hold your hand and show the world that you're mine" Peter said sweetly,

"Really?" Carla asked, slightly shocked that Peter appeared to be ready to tell people.

"Well yeah, I kind of told my dad and Deirdre that I was seeing someone, I didn't tell them it was you though."

"Michelle's picked up on something too, I haven't told her anything but I think she can tell I'm hiding something."

"Well we can tell them soon. I'll tell Simon tomorrow after he comes home from football. He's going to his friends after school today so I'll leave it until tomorrow, then after that we can tell people"

"Are you absoloutely sure this is what you want Peter?"

"Absoloutely"

Later that day, Peter was at the bookies when Leanne came in the door.

"What do you want?" Peter asked moodily,

"Can we talk?" Leanne asked,

"If it's some ridiculous plan of getting custody of Simon again you can forget it Leanne"

"It's not" Leanne said, shocking Peter.

"Well come through to the back then, I'm not doing this out here" he said, changing the sign on the door to closed and following Leanne into the office.

"I'll get straight to the point. I'm sorry for ever thinking I had a chance of getting custody of Simon. This was all my fault and I can't take Simon away from you, I know how much he means to you. Nick and I have decided we're going to move away."

"Really?!" Peter asked, obviously shocked at what Leanne was telling him.

"Yeah, I'm so sorry for everything I've put you through, I'm leaving tonight so I hope you find someone who makes you happy Peter and I'm sorry again for what I did"

"Well.. Erm.. Thanks" Peter said, still struggling to take in what Leanne was telling him. "And good luck with everything, what happened has made me realise we're better off apart, I did love you Leanne but it's time we both moved on"

"Yeah you're right, I'll get off, but before I go, I'd really like the chance to say goodbye to Simon and apologise to him"

"Yeah, why don't you come round to my flat tonight and you can see him before you go. I'm not promising that he's going to want to talk to you because he's still upset with you but despite everything I know you still care about him."

"Thanks Peter, I'll see you later"

"Yeah, see you later" Peter replied as she left the bookies. He couldn't hide the huge smile that appeared on his face. He was no longer at risk of losing his son and felt like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He couldn't wait to go and tell Carla and finally move on properly now that Leanne had gone and himself, Carla and Simon could move on with their lives together.


	13. Chapter 13

Here's the next chapter, hope you enjoy! I've added a bit more carchelle to this chapter as I'm trying to write about Carla's relationships with other characters, as well as Peter. Please review and let me know what you think! Also if you have anything you'd like to see more of like other characters interacting etc don't hesitate to let me know. Thanks :)

* * *

That night, Carla was in her flat when her buzzer rang. She had no idea who it might be as she wasn't expecting anyone. Her heart beat quickened as she heard Peter's voice on the other side of the buzzer and she let him up.

"Hello you, this is a nice surprise"

"I needed to see you, I've just had some great news"

"Yeah? What is it?"

"Leanne came to the bookies today"

"That doesn't sound like good news" Carla laughed,

"You haven't heard the good part yet. She's moving away, she's not applying for custody anymore"

"Oh Peter that's fantastic news, I'm so happy for you" Carla said hugging him excitedly. "I told you nothing would come of this"

"You were right" Peter said happily,

"I'm always right sweetheart" Carla said cheekily, before taking his face in her hands and kissing him passionately.

"Now that Leanne's gone, you, me and Simon can move on with our lives properly" Peter said happily,

"I can't wait. When's she leaving?"

"Tonight, she's coming round to the flat later to say bye to Simon then she's leaving, so I better get going, just a flying visit"

"When can I see you again?"

"I'll text you, depending how things go with Leanne, I might not tell Simon right now, I'll leave it a week or so until things settle down a bit, I need to wait until the time is right."

"Of course, like I said, I'll wait as long as it takes, I'm not going anywhere."

"You have no idea how happy that makes me to hear you say that. I best get off love, I'll speak to you soon okay?"

"Okay, good luck with Leanne"

"Thanks" Peter said, kissing her goodbye and heading back to his flat.

Later that night, Peter was in the living room of his flat with Simon, about to explain to him that Leanne was leaving.

"Simon, there's something I need to tell you mate"

"What is it dad? Am I in trouble?" Simon asked worriedly,

"No of course not son, you see the thing is, Leanne and Nick, they're moving away"

"Where to?" Simon asked,

"I don't know son, but they're not going to be living round here so you won't see Leanne as much anymore. I know you're angry with Leanne, but it's okay to be sad about her moving away"

"Will I get to say bye to her?"

"Yeah, she's going to come round in a bit"

"Okay."

"Listen son, I know that Leanne and I don't love each other anymore but it doesn't mean either of us love you any less. Because we're living apart, it doesn't mean you can't see Leanne, if you want to see her then I'm more than happy with that okay?"

"Okay dad. Love you" Simon said, hugging Peter tightly.

"Love you too son", Peter said ruffling his curls.

Not long later, the buzzer rang and Peter answered it to Leanne.

"Hiya Simon" Leanne said, entering the flat.

"Hi" Simon said quietly, "why are you moving away?" He asked

"Because Si, your dad and I aren't going to be living together anymore and it's better if I live somewhere else, but if you want to, you can visit me any time. And I'm so sorry for what I did, I know I upset you but it wasn't intentional and I don't love you any less than I did when your dad and I were together."

"I still love you too, but you made my dad really sad"

"I know Simon, I'm so sorry. I'll miss you so much when I go"

"I'll miss you too", Simon said as Leanne hugged him tightly, a few tears falling from her eyes.

"And remember what I said, you can visit whenever you want." She said, getting up from the sofa and walking over to Peter who was looking on from the kitchen, pleased that neither of them had kicked off.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye then" Leanne said, picking up her bag from the side, "I'm sorry it's come to this"

"Like I said, I think it's best for both of us. You and Nick deserve each other" Perer said, showing Leanne out before going over and sitting next to Simon.

"Are you okay?" He asked,

"Yeah" Simon said, picking up his Nintendo.

"Dad?"

"Yes son?"

"Can we go back to Carla's soon? Her telly is so cool, and I missed the end of the film that we were watching"

"Yeah, I'm sure Carla wouldn't mind. Do you like Carla?" Peter asked, wondering if now was the right time to tell him about their relationship.

"Yeah. She's really nice to me"

"Yeah" Peter said, thinking for a minute before deciding there was no time like the present now that Leanne was out of the picture.

"Simon?"

"Yeah?"

"Well you know how me and Leanne aren't together anymore, that was because Leanne made me sad, and Carla, well she makes me happy. So if it's okay with you, we're going to be spending a lot more time together" Peter explained, trying to make it simple for him to understand.

"Like boyfriend and girlfriend?"

Peter smiled at his innocence, "yeah, a bit like that mate"

"Okay" Simon shrugged,

"Are you sure you're alright with that?"

"Yeah, I'm sure"

Peter breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that Simon was okay with him and Carla being together and Leanne had went without a fuss. He got up from the sofa and found his phone, going off into his bedroom to call Carla.

"Hello", Carla answered

"Hey baby, thought I'd give you an update"

"All good I hope?" Carla asked, hoping that things had gone well for Peter.

"Great actually"

"Oh that's good, I'm so glad"

"Yeah, Leanne didn't kick off and neither did Simon so everything's okay"

"Good, now we just need to find the right moment to tell him about us, not that there's any rush"

"We don't have to worry about that"

"What do you mean?" Carla asked confused,

"I've told him"

"Really?! How did he take it?"

"Really well, he said he's fine with it, he was asking when we were going to your flat again so that he could watch your big telly"

"Aww bless him, tell him he can come any time he wants"

"He'll be made up, he was gutted he missed the end of that film we were watching a few weeks back"

"Well next time he's here he can watch it."

"He'd like that" Peter smiled, "what are you up to?"

"I'm just about to go out with Michelle, we were going to go this weekend but something came up so we've changed it to tonight"

"We'll have a good night, I'll let you get off"

"Thanks, I'll call you tomorrow? Actually, why don't you and Simon come over to mine, I'll cook tea if you like? Not that I'm any good at cooking mind"

"That sounds great, are you sure you want to cook?"

"Of course, I'm not promising I'll turn into Nigella but I'll do my best"

"I'm sure whatever you do will be amazing, I'll see you tomorrow then"

"Bye"

That night, Carla and Michelle were out in town at a cocktail bar, sitting having a drink.

"So tell me again, how come you had to cancel this weekend? I didn't quite pick you up on the phone"

"Because Steve's booked us a table at this posh restaurant for dinner, says he wants to treat me"

"Aww that's cute, he's a good catch Steve"

"Yeah he is, although he never usually takes me out, it's only because it's been a year since we got back together."

"Has it been a year already?!"

"Yeah, time flies doesn't it"

"Yeah"

"So are you ever going to tell me what this big secret of yours is?" Michelle asked,

"What secret, I don't know what you're talking about"

"You do, you've been hiding something for the last few weeks, you know you can't keep a secret from me for that long. You haven't stopped smiling these last few weeks so something's going on"

"Is it that obvious?" Carla asked, thinking that she had been able to hide it,

"Only because I can read you like a book, come on spill"

"Okay fine. Well, I've fallen for someone"

"Really?! Who?"

"We'll not just fallen for them, we're together but we couldn't tell anyone yet"

"Just tell me who it is" Michelle said excitedly, "do I know them?" Michelle's face suddently dropped and her smile faded, "tell me it's not Frank"

"Oh god no of course not, I wouldn't touch him with a barge pole"

"Good, you had me worried then"

"It's Peter"

"Peter Barlow?"

"No Peter Pan, he's whisking me off to Neverland"

Michelle looked at Carla with an expression of confusion.

"Of course Peter Barlow you div" Carla laughed, "we've had to keep it a secret until things settled with Leanne, he didn't want to upset Simon after everything"

"How long have you been seeing him?"

"Only properly for a few weeks but we've been close ever since he split with Leanne"

"Well you did a good job hiding that! I would never have guessed"

"Really? Well don't go broadcasting it will you? I think Peter would rather people found out in their own time"

"Of course I won't, I'm really happy for you, you deserve some happiness, I just hope he treats you right"

"He does, I haven't felt this happy in a long time Chelle, I think he's a keeper"

"Yeah? Well congratulations" Michelle smiled, reaching across and taking hold of Carla's hand, happy that her best friend had finally found someone that made her happy.

It was now the early hours of the morning and Carla and Michelle, both slightly drunk were making their way to a cab office, ready to go back to Weatherfield.

"Hi" Carla slurred, approaching a taxi, pulled up at the side of the road, "Weatherfield please, 4.. Chelle what's my address again?"

"You get in, I'll handle this" Michelle said, Carla clearly too drunk. Michelle told the taxi driver where they were going and climbed in the back with Carla.

"We shouldn't have had so many cocktails" Carla said, "I feel sick"

"I did suggest we call a taxi about an hour ago but you were having none of it" Michelle laughed,

"How come you're not as drunk as I am?! That's not fair, you've always been the sensible one and I always manage to go out an get so drunk I forget my address"

After a short taxi journey, they both arrived back at Carla's. They got into the building and began climbing the stairs to Carla's flat.

They both clung to each other, slowly going up the stairs, trying not to fall in their heels. Suddenly Michelle lost her footing and tripped on the stairs, falling and dragging Carla down with her. The two of them were sat on the stairs in fits of laughter, "Stupid shoes" Michelle said as she tried to get up.

"Thanks for taking me down with you" Carla laughed, holding out her hand to Michelle, helping her up.

As they reached the flat door, Carla fumbled in her hand bag and after a few minutes, brought out the keys.

"Here they are" she said, trying to unlock the door.

"Carla that's upside down, give it here" Michelle said, taking the keys from Carla and trying to unlock the door.

Finally, they both got into the flat and kicked off their heels and threw themselves down on the sofa.

"That was a great night" Carla said, grabbing a blanket and throwing it over both of them on the sofa.

"It was wasn't it? We should do it more often"

"Definitely" Carla agreed,

"This sofa of yours is dead comfy" Michelle said, pulling the blaket over herself.

"Yeah, I'm just going to sleep here, who needs a bed when you have a sofa like this"

The two of them snuggled closer to each other and within seconds began to drift off to sleep.

"Night Chelle, love you" Carla slurred, closing her eyes.

"Love you too" Michelle said, almost falling asleep mid-sentence.


	14. Chapter 14

This chapter is a bit shorten than the rest so sorry about that but there's a huge chapter to come next, so that will be up within the next few days hopefully. For those requesting M-Rated scenes, I'be never tried that sort of thing and can't say I would be any good at it, but I might try it if that's what people want. hooe you enjoy this chapter and thank you for all the reviews on this so far. Please keep the reviews coming and let me know what you think.

* * *

The next morning, Michelle woke up to the sound of Carla's voice telling her to get up,

"Chelle, it's nearly 11 o'clock, here, I've made you a coffee"

"Ughh my head's banging" Michelle moaned, sitting up and taking the mug from Carla.

"Take these" Carla said, handing her some paracetamol

"Thanks, how long have you been up?"

"About twenty minutes"

Michelle yawned and picked up her phone noticing she had a few missed calls from Steve.

"Steve will be wondering where I am, I was meant to be working today"

"Lucky you, having to spend the morning in a pub, as if your hangover wasn't bad enough"

"I know, tell me about it. What you doing today?"

"I was going to go into work this morning but I've had a phone Hayley and tell her I didn't feel well. I've got Peter and Simon coming round for dinner later, I said I'd cook"

Michelle nearly spat out her coffee, trying not to laugh. "You cooking?! Are you serious?!"

"Yeah, I don't know why I suggested that actually, we all know I can't cook"

"You'll need to warn them they're at risk of food poisoning"

"I'm not that bad" Carla said,

"Carla the last time you tried to make soup you burned it"

"Yeah true that, actually I am that bad" Carla laughed, wondering what she had got herself in for.

"There must be some recipes online or something, have a look at them"

"Chelle let's be honest, the only thing I'll be looking at is a takeaway menu. Simon likes pizza, I could just order one and pretend I made it"

"Yeah, just as long as you hide the boxes before they get here" Michelle laughed

Later that night, Carla, Peter and Simon were sat round the table in Carla's flat.

"That pizza was so good Carla, much better than my dad's" Simon laughed, "can I please watch TV?"

"Of course you can, that DVD you were watching last time is in the drawer if you want to watch it"

Simon ran off to watch TV happily and Peter turned to face Carla, taking hold of her hand across the table.

"I didn't know you could cook" Peter said,

"I can't" Carla said, deciding she couldn't keep it a secret.

"Well I'd say you can after that, home made pizza's hard to make"

"I have a confession to make" Carla said,

"You didn't make this did you?" Peter laughed,

"Of course I didn't, I can't cook to save my life"

"Well, at least you didn't burn it" Peter laughed,

"I didn't get the chance"

"What do you mean?" Peter asked confused,

"I got it from the takeaway, I just got rid of the boxes and sat it in the oven before you got here"

"I thought it tasted familiar actually" Peter said, remembering their night in last week, "but it's the thought that counts" he smiled.

Peter then got up from the table, going over to where he had put his jacket, going into his pocket and bringing out a box, bringing it over to where Carla was still sat at the table.

"I saw this today and thought you'd like it" he smiled, handing her the box.

"Aww Peter, you didn't have to do that" Carla said, opening the box to reveal a beautiful silver diamond necklace. "Wow, it's so beautiful, thank you so much" she said,

"Not as beautiful as you" Peter smiled, gazing lovingly at her.

"Will you put it on for me?"

"Of course I will, come here".

She walked round to his side of the table and he put his hands on her waist, sitting her on his knee. He sweeped her long dark hair over her shoulder and placed the necklace round her neck, clipping it closed. He then placed a gentle kiss on her neck and left a trail of kisses along her collarbone as she turned around in his embrace to face him. As their eyes met, they gazed lovingly and lustfully at each other before leaning in for a passionate kiss. They quickly pulled apart before things got too heated, remembering that Simon was sat on the sofa, although he was too engrossed in the film to notice what they were doing.

"Tonight, stay here tonight, we'll pick up where we left off", Carla whispered in Peter's ear seductively as she got up and went over to where Simon was sat on the sofa.

"Simon, would you be alright if we stayed over tonight mate?"

"Yeah. But what about school tomorrow" Simon asked,

"Don't worry about that, I'll go home just now and pack us an overnight bag, you can wait here with Carla"

"Okay dad" Simon said, turning back to the TV where the film was nearing the end.

"Would you mind watching Si for ten minutes then while I pop home?"

"Of course not, if it means you can stay here with me all night"

"What was it you said the other day? Be patient and you get what you want" he smirked,

"Stop being such a tease" she laughed as he left the flat.

A few minutes later, Carla was stood in the kitchen, cleaning up some plates from dinner when Simon came up behind her and hugged her, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Thank you" he said,

"What for sweetheart?" Carla asked, turning round and crouching down to his level.

"For making my dad happy again" he said sweetly.

Carla's heart melted at what he had just said and she took his hand in hers, leading him over to the sofa and sitting next to him.

"You know what Si, your dad, he's a very special man, just like you're a very special little boy and he makes me very happy."

"Does he make you smile lots? Because you make him smile lots. He's not sad anymore"

"He does make me smile lots yeah. And I'm so glad he's not sad anymore. Simon, are you really sure you're okay with your dad and I being together, because we wouldn't want to do anything to make you upset."

"I am, Leanne made my dad sad but you make him happy. I still love Leanne though"

"I know you do darling, and I want you to know that because I'm with your dad, that doesn't mean I'm trying to take Leanne's place or anything like that okay?" Carla reassured him as he nodded, seeming happy with Carla and Peter's relationship.

Later that night, Simon was getting ready to go to bed.

"Dad why can't I stay up late?"

"Because you have school tomorrow and you don't want to be falling asleep at your desk do you?"

"I won't fall asleep" Simon said, trying to convince his dad to let him stay up later.

"Okay, well why don't I come and read you a story until you fall asleep then?"

"Okay then" he said, picking up his bag that Peter had brought to find his book.

"Right come on then" Peter said, walking up the stairs to the spare bedroom.

"Night Carla" Simon said, following his dad upstairs.

"Night Simon" Carla smiled, watching as Peter lead his son up the stairs.

Later that night, with Simon asleep upstairs, Peter and Carla were snuggled up on the sofa.

"I'm so glad you stayed over tonight, I love having you here"

"I love being here with you."

"I had a chat with Simon when you were out"

"Really? What about"

"About us."

"What did he say?"

"He said he was happy because you were happy. That kid thinks the world of you Peter, you're a great dad to him"

"I try my best, he means the world to me"

"I know he does"

"And you mean the world to me too" Peter smiled, before there was a long silence, as if Peter was building up to say something else.

"Peter?"

"I.."

"You what?"

"I love you" he said, taking her face in his hands and placing a soft kiss on her lips.

"I love you too. I think I have ever since that night when we first kissed."

"Me too, I haven't been able to get you out of my head ever since"

"My knight in a faded leather jacket" Carla said, moving closer to him and resting her head on his chest.

"Are you ready to continue?" Carla asked, kissing him passionately. Peter knew immediately what she meant and grinned at her.

"Yes. I've been ready all night" he said between kisses. "Come on then", he said, taking her hand and leading her into the bedroom, their lips not leaving each other's.


	15. Chapter 15

These next two chaptera were meant to be the one chapter but I've split it into two as I felt it would be too long to post as one. I should point out that this chapter and the next one contain some violence so if you don't like that sort of thing then don't read any further if you don't want to. If you do read this chapter though, please review and let me know what you think. I found this chapter and the next one really hard to write and spent a long time on them so any reviews will be greatly appreciated :) hope you enjoy and I'll get the next chapter up as soon as possible!

* * *

A few days later and Carla was getting ready to go for dinner with Frank. She had managed to get out of it for the last week but there was no getting rid of him so she gritted her teeth and put on a fake smile, leavig her flat and going into the waiting taxi. In any ordinary business dinner she would have drove but dinner with Frank Foster would have to include at least a few big glasses of wine to take the edge off.

She was dressed in a simple black dress coming just above her knee with her makeup natural but elegant, with her signature killer keels to finish the look. She got into the taxi and told the driver her destination, not sure what the night had in store for her..

Frank had just arrived at the posh five star restaurant in town where he had arranged to meet Carla. He had waited for this day for so long and if things didn't work out the way he wanted he would have to put his plan into action. He could wait for her any longer. He had stood by for weeks waiting for her and if he didn't make his move soon, he was sure she would just get closer to Peter and that would not do him any favours.

He was snapped out of his daydream when Carla appeared in front of him. He looked her up and down, her striking features, perfect figure and beautiful smile making him want her even more.

"Hi" she said nervously, not feeling completely comfortable with the way he was looking at her.

"Hi" he smiled, "you look amazing"

"Thank you" she said, sitting down opposite him as he poured her a glass of wine from the bottle on the table.

"I hope it was nothing serious when you couldn't make it last week" he said,

"No nothing serious, everything's sorted now, sorry I had to cancel"

"It's alright, we're here now so it's all good" he smirked,

"Yeah" Carla said, taking a drink of her wine.

"So how's work going? I hope my order's on schedule" Frank laughed,

"Of course." Carla said, "the girls are working very hard. Have you come up with another delivery schedule?"

"I have yeah. I've emailed it to you"

"Why didn't you just bring it with you?" Carla asked confused, "I thought that was why you wanted to meet me?"

"It wasn't"

"Oh right, well what was it then"

"I just wanted to take you out to dinner" Frank smiled, "that's not a problem is it?"

"No, I did think a five star restaurant was a bit up market for a business meeting"

"Well I thought a glamorous woman like you would have high standards. This restaurant is one of the best I've been to"

"Bring a lot of women here do you?" Carla asked,

"Oh no, only the best"

There was a few seconds of awkward silence before Frank spoke again, keen to know more about Carla and her background.

"How long have you owned underworld for?" Frank asked, making conversation.

"Well it's a family business actually, I took it over from my husband Paul six years ago" Carla explained,

"I didn't know you were married" Frank said, shocked,

"I was, Paul died six years ago"

"I'm so sorry, that must have been awful, it's good that you've kept the business in the family though. It's a great business you've got"

"Thanks, it's hard work though" Carla laughed, "especially with people like you ordering thousands of units. Not that I'm complaining"

"Yeah well you're stock seems high quality so you never know, there might be more orders in the future. You don't have many staff though for such a successful business."

"No but the staff I do have are the best out there" Carla said, she was very fond of her factory staff, she just didn't show it often as she wasn't one for praise. "That lot have stuck by me through thick and thin, I would want anyone else working for me"

"Sounds like you've got a great workforce"

"I have" Carla smiled proudly,

"Have you ever thought of branching out, opening another factory somewhere else?"

"Not really, it would be nice to expand the business but there aren't enough hours in the day as it is to run one factory, never mind any more. It would be amazing to work in London or somewhere like that but Weatherfield does it for me"

"Yeah, you've got a great local"

"Yeah, you can't beat the rovers" she laughed,

"Michelle, the woman that works behind the bar, are you related to her?"

"No, well I was, she was Paul's sister so we were sisters in law but she's my best friend"

"The two of you look really alike, anyone would have thought you were sisters"

"Yeah a lot of people say that actually" Carla laughed, it was a common mistake for them to be mistaken for sisters, both of them having the same black glossy hair and olive skin tone.

"Anyway enough about me, tell me about you, how's your business going, you seem to be doing well" Carla said and Frank silently cursed himself for not getting the chance to move the conversation onto Peter and find out exactly how much of a threat he was.

Back in Weatherfield, in the Rovers, Michelle was working behind the bar talking to Steve.

"It's quiet in here tonight isn't it?" She said, leaning on the bar and taking a drink from the glass next to her.

"Yeah, it's only half seven though, it'll probably get busy later"

"Yeah, hopefully, I can't be doing with standing about here all night."

"Why don't you take the night off"

"You'd be on your own, I can't do that"

"Michelle, it's fine, like you said we're not busy. I can tell your still hungover."

"What can I say, Carla's a bad influence on me" Michelle laughed, "are you sure you're alright to run the place on your own"

"Of course I am, go and run yourself a bath and relax"

"aww thanks darling, love you" Michelle said, going off upstairs to run herself a bath.

At Peter's flat he had just got home from Ken and Deirdre's with Simon where they had had dinner and was sat flicking through the tv channels hoping there was something decent on whilst Simon was playing in his room. He got out his phone and scrolled trough his contact list and stopped as he came to Carla's name. He typed out a message, hoping to cheer her up knowing that she didn't want to be going to dinner with Frank.

_Hi baby, how's your night going? I'll phone you tomorrow. Peter xx_

Peter came across an episode of top gear that was on and got himself comfy on the sofa, ready to spend his evening in front of the TV, wishing Carla was there with him.

In the restaurant, Carla and Frank had now finished dinner and Carla had excused herself to go to the bathroom. She had taken her handbag with her but left her coat on the back of the chair. When he was sure she was out of sight and making sure not to look suspicious, Frank leaned across and slipped his hand into her pocket, feeling around for something. He eventually found a lipstick and removed it from her pocket, slipping it into his own. "This might come in handy later" he thought.

In the bathroom, Carla was in front of the mirror fixing her hair. She took her phone from her hand bag and smiled reading the text that appeared from Peter, she would be much rather be sat with him in from of the TV just now. She decided she would make her excuses and go home, having had enough of Frank for one night.

As she went back to the table, Frank once again, looked her up and down as she sat down.

"Frank this has been lovely but I really best get going"

"Don't you want to come back to mine for a bit and have a drink?"

"No I really shouldn't, it's getting late" Frank was getting increasingly annoyed that his evening was cut a bit shorter than expected and he was sure he could have convinced her to go back to his but she wasn't for having it. She was one stubborn woman. But he liked women like that. "At least let me give you a lift home."

"It's alright, I can get a taxi" she said, putting her coat on.

"Carla, that wouldn't be very gentlemanly of me to let you get a taxi home. I can give you a lift no problem."

Carla was now becoming increasingly frustrated with him, this man does not take no for an answer, so reluctantly she accepted the lift home just to shut him up.

The two of them were now outside the restaurant in Frank's car.

"Are you sure I can't tempt you to come back to mine for a drink?" Frank asked, trying once more to convince her.

"No thanks, I best just go home" Carla declined.

Talk about playing had to get, oh well Carla, if you want to do it the hard way that's just what I'll do, Frank thought as he started the engine and started to drive towards Weatherfield.

They both arrived outside Carla's block of flats and Frank stopped the car.

"Well thanks for a lovely evening Frank" Carla said through gritted teeth, getting out of the car and walking into the building and up to her flat.

Frank's plan of getting her back to his house had failed miserably do he would have to put Plan B into action. He sat in his car for a few minutes when he saw someone going into the building. He ran out of the car and got to them just as they were opening the door.

"You don't mind letting me in so you?" He asked, "I've just dropped my friend off and they've left something in my car, just returning it"

"No problem mate" the man said, unlocking his own flat and going inside.

Frank made his way along the corridor to number 4, checking which one was Carla's from the list of names on the door.

Inside the flat, Carla had kicked off her heels and poured herself a glass of wine and got her phone from her handbag. She was just about to phone Peter when there was a knock at the door. You have got to be kidding me, she thought as she opened the door to see Frank stood there.

"Hi, you left this in my car" he said, handing her the lipstick he had brought out of his pocket.

"Oh, thanks it must have fallen out my pocket"

"Yeah"

"Right well, thanks for bringing this back"

"No problem"

"Well I'll see you soon then" Carla said, closing the door.

Suddently, Frank put his foot in gap between the door to stop it from closing, grabbed Carla by her upper arms and pushed her back into the flat and kicking the door closed with his foot. He left bruising kissed on her lips and held her up against the wall. Carla was frozen to the spot with shock but when her body suddently reacted and she realised what was happening she used all her strength to push him off her.

"Frank! What the hell do you think you're doing?!" She shouted, moving away from him.

"Oh come on Carla, you want me just as much as I want you"

"Oh really?! How did you work that one out?! Frank I have a boyfriend!" she said disgusted,

"He doesn't need to know" Frank said, edging closer to her.

"Look, I'm sorry if I given you mixed signals or anything but what we have is nothing more than a business relationship. Actually no, make that what we had, stuff your stupid order, I don't work with sleazy blokes like you that just want to get into my bed.

Frank looked on at her in awe, she's so sexy when she's angry, he thought,

"Oh Carla, men like me always get what they want" he smirked,

"Frank, get out now!" She shouted, storming over to the door but before she got the chance to open it he had grabbed her from behind and slammed her against the door. Their faces were now millimetres apart, his fingernails digging into her skin as he tightened his grip on her.

"Frank please let go of me"

"No can do Carla, like I said, men like me always get what they want."

He took hold of her and threw her roughly down into the floor before getting ontop of her and pinning her down.

"FRANK! GET OFF ME" she screamed, trying to wriggle free. He ignored her pleas for help and began to pull up her dress and undo his trousers with one hand as he held her hands above her head with the other to ensure she couldn't push him off. "I SAID GET OFF ME!" She screamed, tears forming in her eyes as she tried to wriggle out of his grasp. She couldn't hold in her tears any longer and began to sob, letting out cries of pain as he thrust roughly into her. She finally accepted the fact that there was no escaping from his rough grasp and she just lay there sobbing helplessly, closing her eyes and hoping that she would not have to endure this any longer.


	16. Chapter 16

Carla didn't know how long she had been lying there, she had tried her best to block out the traumatic experience she was being forced to endure but when she opened her eyes he was still there. He was standing at her feet, looking down at her lying there helplessly on the floor. He towered above her and she felt so powerless, so terrified of him. Gone was her tough exterior and left was a broken woman. Her whole body was shaking with fear and she was in excruciating pain. She slowly tried to get up, ignoring the extreme pain that pulsed through her whole body with every movement. She failed miserably and once again, curled up in a ball on the floor as if to try and shield herself from his gaze, petrified to even make eye contact with him.

"It was your fault Carla, you lead me on all night, you made me do it"

"I did no such a thing" she said quietly, defending herself although immediately regretting the decision to speak in the fear that he would attack her again.

"Please can you leave now" she begged. "You've got what you wanted now leave" she said in almost a whisper, he voice was so quiet she didn't even know if he had heard her. Her body shook violently as he came closer to her and picked her up from the floor, dragging her to her feet causing her to scream out in pain.

"Not before I get a goodbye kiss" he whispered wickedly, grabbing her fave roughly in his hands and roughly kissing her lips. She tried to turn her head to the side to avoid him but he just dug has fingers into the side of her face further, restricting her from moving. She cried against his lips as he continued to kiss her and he felt her tears fall down her face on his hands.

"Goodnight Carla" he said coldly before pushing her away from him causing her to become light headed at the sudden movement and lose her balance. She fell backwards and he heard the crack as the side of he head collided with the edge of the kitchen counter causing her once again to cry out in pain. She hit the floor with a thud and before she could look back up to where Frank was standing he had gone, running from her flat and leaving her alone. She lay there, breathing a sigh of relief that he had finally left. She couldn't ignore the pain she was now experiencing in her head. She lifted her hand and placed it against her temple feeling a sticky substance under her fingers. She removed her hand from her head and it was now covered in her own blood which she could feel dropping down the side of her face, a few drops landing on the floor and on her dress which had been ripped off at one shoulder exposing her bra underneath. She was dizzy and disorientated as she sat up, trying to get her bag from the sofa where she had left it. She eventually pulled out her phone and dialled Peter's number.

Peter was in his flat, Simon asleep in his room and he was just dozing off on the sofa when he was woken by his phone ringing. She didn't bother to check who it was, brining the phone to his ear and answering it.

"Hello?"

"Peter" came a voice, barely recognisable from the other side.

"Hello?" Peter said again,

"Peter is that you" he suddently realised the quiet shaky voice on the other side was Carla's

"Carla? Are you alright?" He asked, getting increasingly worried.

"Can you- can you come- here please" she said, her voice shaking with emotion and he could hear her crying on the other side.

"Carla? Baby what's happened are you okay?" He asked, his heart beating rapidly with fear

"Please" she begged,

"Okay, stay calm for me okay, I'll be there as quickly as I can okay? Just stay right there and it'll be okay I promise" he said, running through to his bedroom and grabbing a pair of shoes. He quickly dialled Deirdre's number. "Come on Deirdre answer your phone" He said, desparate to get to Carla.

"Hello" came Deridre's tired voice from the other side.

"Deirdre can you come round to the flat please?" Peter said quickly

"Yeah, has something happened, are you alright?" She asked, starting to panic,

"Can you just get here quick please?"

"Yeah of course I'll be there straight away."

Less than five minutes later, Deridre was at the door, shocked at Peter's emotional state.

"Peter what's happened, where's Simon?"

"Simon's asleep in bed, he's fine, I just need you to look after him for a bit. Carla just phoned, I need to go round to hers, something's happened" Peter said, tears filling his eyes.

"Did she not say what it was?"

"No, she just said she needed me to be there, she sounded terrified, I could hear her crying down the phone"

"Oh god I hope she's alright!" Deridre said, beginning to panic herself now, "you get to Carla, make sure she's okay, I'll look after Simon"

"Thank you"

"Let me know what's going on yeah? And give her my love"

"I will do, see you later" Peter said, running out the door and into his car, speeding off in the direction of Carla's flat. He must have broken every speed limit on the road but he he didn't care, he had to be with Carla. On his arrival, he spotted someone going into the block of flats and let him in, running as fast as he could to Carla's flat. When he got there, the door wasn't closed on the latch and he was able to get in. He slowly opened the door and he suddentl felt his heart hammering through his jacket when he saw Carla slumped against the sofa with blood dripping down the side of her face.

"Carla!" He shouted, rushing over to her. When he got closer he could see her wrists, chest and legs covered in bruises and her dress ripped.

"Peter" she said, her voice hoarse from crying and barely audible. Her whole body was shaking violently and Peter could see pain in here eyes.

"Carla, baby what happened?"

"Frank"

Peter felt a huge wave of rage pulse through his body.

"Carla what did he do to you?"

"He- he r- he raped me" Carla said , unable to hold in her emotions any more and breaking down in tears, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Shh, it's okay" Peter said, wrapping his arms around her and hugging her, cautious not to hurt her as she winced in pain with every movement. Peter's heart completely broke at her fragile state, he let his emotions overcome him and broke down in tears himself, stroking Carla's hair and placing soft kisses in her hair. "It's okay baby, I'm here, I'm not going to let him come near you okay? You're safe with me. But we need to get you to hospital okay?"

"I'm scared Peter" she said, clinging to him like her life depended on it.

"I know you are baby, I know, and it's okay to be scared, I promise you I'll be with you okay, we're going to need to tell the police. I'll be there with you every step of the way okay, I'll hold your hand, I promise I won't leave you or let that monster come near you again okay?" Carla had no energy to speak and simply nodded her head. "I'm going to call you an ambulance and the police okay"

"Peter it huts so much" Carla cried, grasping his hand tightly

"I know, you won't be in pain for much longer okay baby, just hang in there" he said, taking his phone from his pocket and dialling 999.

In the rovers, it was approaching 9:00 and Michelle, having had a few hours off work, joined Steve back behind the bar.

"You could have had the rest of the night off babe"

"No it's alright, I'm feeling better now, I had a bath and a lie down, I'm quite bored"

"Alright then, we're just starting to get busy"

"Right, I'll go and start serving"

Just at that moment, Sean and Beth came into the pub and joined Fiz, Julie and Sally at the bar.

"Hey did you hear that?" Beth asked,

"Hear what?" Fiz replied,

"All those sirens! You must have heard it! We just saw two police cars and and ambulance going past"

"Do you know what's happened?" Michelle asked, having overheard their conversation from behind the bar.

"No, we just saw all the police and ambulance, whatever's happened is serious"

"Oh god I wonder what it is!" Sally said worriedly.

As the locals speculated in the Rover's, the police and paramedics arrived in Carla's flat.

"Mrs Connor, my name's DC Smith, I know you're in a lot of pain at the moment but can you tell me briefly what happened?" She asked, as a paramedic came over and kneeled down next to Carla.

"Frank Foster. He- he raped me- he came- into my flat an- and he attacked me"

"Okay, we're going to get you to hospital okay because that cut on your head looks nasty, when you've recovered a bit we'll take a statement but we're going to take some evidence from your flat and get the forensics started is that okay?"

"Yeah"

"Carla, can you tell me where it hurts"

"Everywhere, but my head mostly and my ribs" Carla said, squeezing Peter's hand tightly.

"Okay, I can tell you're in a lot of shock so I'm going to give you this to help with your breathing" he said placing an oxygen mask over her face.

"That's a serious head wound so we're going to need to get her straight to hospital. She says she's got a lot of pain in her ribs, I think she's got some broken ribs because she's struggling to breathe" the paramedic said two who entered the room carrying a stretcher.

"Right Carla we're going to lift you onto this stretcher and take you out into the ambulance to get you to hospital okay? This might cause you a bit of pain but just keep taking deep breaths for me alright".

Peter didn't let go of Carla's hand the whole journey to the hospital and only let go when he was forced to as Carla was taken into a hospital room to get her head checked out and he was left waiting in the waiting room.

He couldn't quite believe what had happened. He couldn't believe Frank had done this to her and made her so weak and vulnerable. To see someone who was usually so strong so broken was absoloutely devastating for Peter and he wished that there was something he could do to take all her pain away. Now all that was left to do was wait for news. He had Carla's phone in his pocket having taken it with him incase she needed it. Her phone had got a few messages on the way to the hospital but he hadn't bothered to check them. He didn't want to invade her privacy but he thought under the circumstances she wouldn't mind. There were three messages from Michelle and two missed calls.

Peter had been waiting for what felt like hours when eventually a doctor came out of the room.

"How is she? Is she okay?" Peter asked immediately

"Mr Barlow, perhaps you'd like to step into the relatives room."

Peter followed the doctor into a small room and sat down opposite him.

"It's clear from the rape kit we've submitted that Mrs Connor has been sexually assaulted and she's also sustained some sever injuries from the attack. We've managed to stitch up the wound on her head but she has got a bit of concussion so we'll be keeping her in hospital for a few days. She's also got three broken ribs and severe bruising. She's still in a lot of shock but we've given her some pain relief and if you'd like to follow me you can come and see her. She's been asking for you."

Peter followed the doctor into Carla's room and his heart broke all over again seeing her lay there battered and bruised looking so defeated. She did manage a small smile when she saw him and it made his heart flutter.

"Hey" he said softly, sitting down on the chair by her bedside taking her hand. His heart sank as he felt her flinch as his hand made contact with hers. "I'm not going to hurt you baby it's okay"

"I know, sorry it's just"

"It's okay, you don't have to apologise, it's alright" he said, cupping her face with his other hand. "How are you feeling? Sorry stupid question. Why don't you get some sleep, you look shattered"

"I can't, everytime I close my eyes I see him" Carla said, a few tears rolling down her cheek.

"Oh love" Peter said sympathetically, as he wiped her tears, "come here"

He pulled her into a gentle comforting hug. "I promise you I'm not going to let anyone else hurt you ever again"


	17. Chapter 17

Just want to say a huge thank you to everyone who haa read and reviewed the last few chapters, I spent a lot of time on them and all the reviews are greatly appreciated. Hope you enjoy this next chapter :)

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Carla had eventually managed to get some sleep after the doctor had given her some sleeping pills and Peter had not left her bedside ever since he has been able to see her and was holding her hand as she slept. Carla began to stir in her sleep and her eyes fluttered open.

"Morning" Peter said softly, "are you okay?"

"I've got a headache"

"I'm not surprised, that was quite a blow to the head you got. How did it happen?"

"He pushed me, I must have lost my balance and fallen, I hit it off the kitchen worktop"

"I can't believe he did this to you. I wish I had told you not to go to that dinner, I know you didn't want to go. I was going to say to you to cancel, I had a bad feeling about him, why didn't I tell you?" Peter asked, getting emotional.

"Peter, this isn't your fault, please don't think like that. There was nothing you could have done. You weren't to know he was capable of this. I didn't know either, I knew he was sleazy and desperate but I didn't know that he had it in him to - to rape me" Carla said, her voice cracking with emotion.

"I wish I could take your pain away. I wish there was something I could do, I feel so helpless"

"You're helping me by just being here. Thank you for staying with me last night, you didn't have to, you look shattered"

"Carla I'm never leaving you, I'll sit here all day and all night if you need me to"

Just at that DC Smith knocked on the door and entered the room.

"Morning Mrs Connor, I'm going to have to get a statement from you if that's okay?"

"Yeah come in"

"Have you arrested him yet?" Peter asked,

"No we haven't" DC Smith replied,

"Why not?!" Peter asked,

"Because it's important that we get a full statement from the victim before we make any arrests. Now if you don't mind I need to have a word with Mrs Connor."

"Are you sure your up to this love?" Peter asked her,

"I'll have to do it at some point, it's best to just get it over with"

"Mr Barlow I'm sorry but I'll have to ask you to leave. I need to speak to Mrs Connor on her own." the police officer said,

Peter didn't want to leave her but there was nothing he could do.

"Do you want me to go and tell Michelle what's happened love? She's been trying to get hold of you last night."

"Yeah please"

"I won't be long okay, I'll be back as soon as I can, I love you" he said, getting up and squeezing her hand. "I love you too" Carla said as he left the room to go back to Weatherfield.

Back on Coronation Steeet, the factory workers were gathered outside the factory and had been standing there for over an hour as Carla had not turned up to open the factory.

"Where do you think Mrs Connor is?" Sean asked,

"I don't know but if she doesn't turn up in the next ten minutes I'm going home, it's freezing out here"

"I'm sure she's got a valid reason" Hayley said, although she did worry about why Carla hadn't turned up to work.

Little did they know that the ambulances they heard last night were actually for Carla but none of them seemed to have made that connection.

In the Rovers, Michelle was behind the bar, stocking up a delivery that had just arrived from the brewery with the help of Steve. They both looked up from what they were doing when Peter entered the pub.

"Hiya Peter mate, you alright? Early on the go this morning aren't you mate? What can I get you?"

"Nothing Steve" Peter said wearily.

"What's up mate? Everything alright?" Steve asked as Michelle came over and joined them.

"Michelle I need to talk to you about something"

"What's up?" Michelle asked, confused

"Can we go through the back, I think you might need to sit down to hear this"

"Yeah course, come through. Steve finish off here will you?"

"Yeah okay babe" Steve said as Michelle and Peter went through the back.

They both sat down on the sofa and Peter wasn't sure how to go about telling Michelle what had happened.

"What's wrong?" Michelle asked, clearly getting concerned

"It's Carla" Peter said sadly

"What's happened is she alright?!" Michelle asked, getting increasingly worried

"Well she was with Frank last night"

"Has he done something to her?! I warned her about him if he's done anything I swear-"

"He raped her last night" Peter said, tears filled Michelle's eyes

"He what?!"

"He raped her. She's at the hospital just now being interviewed by the police, she's giving a statement." Peter said again, not quite believing it himself.

Michelle suddenly jumped up from the sofa and started pacing the floor in rage.

"Where is he?! I swear to god I'll kill him! How dare he do this to her?!" She screamed

"Michelle, come on love calm down, I know it's a shock" Peter said, guiding her back down into the sofa.

"What's going on in here?!" Steve asked coming through, having heard Michelle shouting from the bar.

"Steve get a cab, I need to to the hospital"

"Okay, calm down, I'll get my mum to mind the bar, come on I'll drive" Steve said, as the three of them left the pub in the direction of the cab office.

The three of them had remained silent all the way to the hospital still not quite believing what had happened. Michelle felt guilty, she had warned Carla of him, why didn't she do more to stop her from going with him? Things like this didn't happen to women like Carla she thought, she's so strong, how can something like this happen to her.

As they arrived at Carla's hospital room, Peter decided to give Michelle some time alone with Carla and him and Steve went down to get a coffee. When they left, Michelle couldn't bring herself to go into the room. She was terrified of what she would see, but she had to do it. She took a deep breath and pushed open the door, and froze as she saw Carla lying there on the bed, her head wound bandaged, her skin littered with red marks and bruises and a devastating sadness in her eyes. As Michelle's eyes met hers, Carla welled up with tears at the sight of her best friend.

"Carla" Michelle said, trying to stop herself from crying, she walked over to her bedside and wrapped her arms around her, noticing her flinch and then relax into her embrace as she hugged her best friend tightly. Carla could no longer hold in her emotions and burst into tears in Michelle's arms.

"Shh it's okay, I'm here, it's okay" Michelle said softly, trying to comfort the broken woman in her arms although she struggled to contain her emotions herself as tears rolled down her cheeks. Carla's sobs echoed through the room as Michelle climbed up on the bed next to her, kissing her forehead and pulling her closer to her, stroking her back in shooting circles. "I'm so sorry he's done this to you Carla, you don't deserve this" Michelle said sadly, wishing like Peter, she could take all her pain away.

Michelle couldn't believe the vulnerable state that Frank had reduced Carla to and in that moment she promised herself that she, with the help of Peter, would help her broken best friend recover and although it would take time, piece her back together to be the strong, feisty independent woman that she was and they would do everything in their power to make sure that Frank rotted in prison like he deserved.

In Manchester airport, Frank had just made his way to the gate his flight was called at. He joined the queue of holiday makers and got out his passport. He knew that Carla would have probably called the police as soon as he left so he had to make a quick exit so proceeded to book the next flight out of the UK the next morning. He got to the front of the queue and his passport was checked by security and he was let onto the plane.

As the plane took off into the sky, he left Manchester and Weatherfield behind. He knew the police would be looking for him and he would have to do a good job to avoid being caught but it was worth it for his night with Carla. He smirked wickedly as he remembered the night before, enjoying the sense of power he seemed to have had over Carla. The Earth got smaller as the plane went higher and as he got further and further into the sky, he began planning what his next move was going to be and the adrenaline of being on the run from the police got him excited, he was certain they weren't going to catch him. Eventually, after staying away for long enough, he would return to Manchester, return to Weatherfield and return to Carla.


	18. Chapter 18

The next day, Peter and Michelle were sat either side of Carla in her hospital room.

"How are you feeling?" Michelle asked sensitively,

"The exact same as I was when you asked me earlier Michelle" Carla snapped, "I'm sorry I'm just tired I didn't sleep well last night"

"Yeah, Peter said that"

Peter had stayed the night at the hospital, refusing to leave Carla's side and slept in the chair by her bedside. Carla couldn't sleep so the two of them had stayed up most of the night just talking until eventually Carla drifted off for an hour or two before once again she was woken, plagued by her horrific memories.

"You two should go home for a bit, you've been here for hours, go home and get some rest"

"Carla it's fine, you'd be on your own if we left"

"Peter, I'm fine, just go and get some rest, go home for a few hours, see Simon, have a shower, get some sleep. You too Chelle, honestly the two of you have done enough" Carla said, feeling guilty that the two of them hadn't been home for two days.

"Are you sure you'll be alright on your own?" Michelle asked,

"Yes, I promise you I'll be fine, I have my phone here anyway and if there's a problem I'll call you."

"Carla, love, what if people ask about what happened? What do you want us to say?" Peter asked, knowing people would be wondering what was going on.

"Does anybody know?"

"Only Deirdre because I had to call her to look after Simon and we had to tell Steve what was going on on the way here"

"Something's going to have to be done about the factory, the girls will be wondering why I've not been there for two days"

"I'll take care of the factory for you, I mean I know I'm not a businesswoman or anything but I can keep an eye on things for you until you're strong enough to go back?" Michelle said, keen to support her best friend. "Steve and Liz can manage at the pub"

"Are you sure?"

"Absoloutely"

"Can you do me a favour?" Carla asked,

"Anything" Michelle replied,

"Can you tell them to stop work on Frank's order and get rid of everything to do with him, I don't want any reminders of him"

"Of course I will, don't worry I'll sort everything out at the factory. You just concentrate on getting better okay?"

"Thanks Chelle"

"No problem, now can we get you anything while we're away?" Michelle asked,

"No thanks love, I'm fine"

"Okay, well call us if you need anything won't you? Are you sure you'll be alright?" Peter asked, worried

"Peter I've said I'll be fine. I'll call you if I need anything"

"Promise?"

"I promise"

Peter and Michelle both hugged her goodbye and headed home to freshen up.

Later on, back in Weatherfield, Michelle made her way over to the factory where Hayley had let the workers in with her spare key. They all looked up at Michelle as she entered the building, wondering what was going on.

"Hi Michelle, do you know what's happening with Carla? She hasn't been here the last two days, Hayley's had to open up" Sally asked,

"I do yeah" Michelle replied, "Carla's not going to be working for a while, I'm going to be running things here for the next few weeks"

"How come? Is Carla alright?" Sean asked concerned,

"As you all know, Carla's been working with Frank Foster recently" Michelle began, gritting her teeth at the mention of his name, "but she'll no longer be working with him so she's scrapping the order" Michelle said,

"You're joking? Why what's happened?" Fiz asked,

"The other night, Frank Foster attacked Carla in her flat, she's in hospital just now"

The whole room fell silent as everyone was shocked into silence.

"As you all know, Carla's a very private person and she's not one for sympathy so I think she would appreciate it if you all just got on with your work"

"Of course" Sean agreed

"Hayley can I have a word?" Michelle asked, ushering Hayley into the office and leaving the rest of them to digest the information they had just been told.

"Is Mrs Connor alright?!" Hayley asked, her voice full of concern when they got into the office.

"She's really struggling Hayley, she's putting a brave face on it but I can tell deep down she's struggling to hold it together" Michelle said truthfully, wishing there was something she could do.

"Do you think she would mind if I went to see her? I know you said she doesn't want people making a fuss but she's always been there for me, I'd really like to return the favour"

"I think she would like that Hayley, she really thinks a lot of you, you know" Michelle smiled, knowing that Carla had a soft spot for Hayley.

At number one, Peter had just arrived back from the hospital, leaving Michelle to take care of the factory.

"Peter, how are you?" Deirdre asked concerned as he made his way through the front door.

"I'm getting there Deirdre, although it's not me I'm worried about"

"Of course, how's Carla?"

"She's getting better, although they still want to keep her in hospital for a few more days. It's awful Deirdre, she's barely sleeping and every time she does she gets there horrible nightmares. I just wish there was something I could do"

"Peter you're helping her by just being there for her, I know it's hard for you but from what I know of her, Carla's a very strong woman, as long as your with her and there to hold her hand and be her shoulder to cry on when she needs it she'll get over this. It just takes time, it's not something she can just get over in a few days"

"Yeah you're right. I jut can't believe he's done this to her, I swear if I get my hands on him I'll kill him" Peter said angrily,

"Peter that won't help love, I know you must be angry with yourself but please don't go anywhere near him, it won't help you or Carla" Deirdre said,

"Yeah I know, where's Simon?"

"He's upstairs with Amy"

"Have you told him where I was?" Peter asked,

"No, I just said you had work and he was staying here for a bit, are you going to tell him anything?"

"Not just now no, but I was thinking, maybe Carla should stay with us at the flat for a bit"

"Yeah I think that's a good idea, she shouldn't be on her own"

"Yeah, I'll say to her later when I go back to the hospital. I'm just going up to see Simon"

"Alright love" Deirdre said, as Peter went upstairs to find Simon.

Later on that day, back at the hospital Carla was lying alone in her hospital bed after convincing Michelle and Peter to go home and get some rest since both of them had barely left her side since she got here. She was still struggling to comprehend exactly what had happened and couldn't quite get her head around it. She was so tired, all she wanted to do was sleep but the minute she closed her eyes all that she could see was him. She was taken right back to that night, lying there helplessley on the floor, him towering over her. She wished with every fibre of her being that she could erase those memories from her head. She thought back to a few nights before when her and Peter were in her flat, his touch was so gentle, so loving compared to Frank's rough manner. Peter looked at her with his eyes full of love but Frank looked at her with his eyes for of anger, lust and posessiveness. As she lay there, lost in her own world, there was a soft knock on the door, so soft that Carla didn't even hear it and as the door opened, Hayley shuffled shyly into the room carrying a bouquet of flowers.

"Hi Mrs Connor, I hope you don't mind me coming" she said, hovering awkwardly by the door.

"Of course not" Carla said,

"I know you're not one for sympathy but I brought you these, it's from all of us at the factory, we couldn't believe what happened" Hayley said, handing Carla the flowers

"Thank you Hayley" Carla smiled, touched at her kindness.

"I don't know if you're up to visitors, I can go if you would rather be on your own"

"Don't be daft, sit down" Carla said, as Hayley took a seat next to her.

"How are you?" Hayley asked sensitively,

"I've been better" Carla said sadly, "but I'll get there, I always do"

"I know you do" Hayley smiled, "everyone at the factory sends their love, and don't worry about work, Michelle and I have that covered and everyone's happy to do anything they can to help"

"Thank you, I'll be back as soon as I can"

"Just you concentrate on getting better, there's no rush, just come back when your ready. Any idea when you're getting home?"

"They've said tomorrow if things are okay in the morning, I'm sick of this room, staring at these four walls all day" Carla said,

"I bet you are, I hate hospitals"

"Me too, this bed is the most uncomfortable bed ever, I'd get a better sleep lying on the ground outside."

"Well hopefully you'll get home tomorrow" Hayley laughed

Back in Weatherfield, Michelle and Steve were in the back room if he Rovers, Michelle having had a sleep for a few hours.

"How's Carla doing?" Steve asked

"Not too good, it's so weird seeing her so vulnerable, she's always so strong, she flinches every time someone touches her and jumps at sudden noises and movements, it's horrible. I just wish I could take her pain away."

"I know you do love" Steve said, sitting down next to Michelle on the sofa and wrapping his arm around her, "and what about you? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, a lot better after getting some sleep."

"Good, are you going to go back to the hospital later?" Steve asked,

"Yeah, I said to Carla I would be back, I hate the thought of her being on her own"

"I'll give you a lift if you want?" Steve offered,

"Thanks babe" Michelle said kissing him on the cheek and snuggling up to him on the sofa.

At the hospital, Hayley was just leaving having spent an hour or so with Carla just chatting and keeping her company.

"I'd love to sit here and chat all night but I best get back, Roy will be wondering where I am"

"Okay, thanks so much for coming Hayley"

"No problem, and anything you need, let me know. And like I said, don't stress about work"

"I won't, I know you'll have the place running like clockwork, I have every faith in you" Carla smiled,

"Well I try my best" Hayley said, "I'll see you soon yeah?"

"Yeah, see you soon love, and thanks again" Carla said as Hayley hugged her goodbye and left the room, making her way back to Weatherfield.

About an hour after Hayley left, there was another knock at the door and a police officer entered the room.

"Afternoon Mrs Connor"

"Hi, is everything alright?" Carla asked concerned,

"We have an update on Mr Foster"

"Okay"

"I'm sorry Mrs Connor but we've visited Mr Foster's home address and were unable to locate his whereabouts."

"What?! So you're saying he could be anywhere?! He could just walk in this room at any time and start again where he left off?!" Carla panicked, her hands beginning to shake with a mixture of fear and anger

"We've found evidence that he boarded a flight to Spain this morning. We've sent out some officers to continue our search for him. We'll keep you updated, I'm so sorry it wasn't good news we came to give you"

"I suppose there's nothing you can do if he flees the country, there's absoloutley no chance he could come here?"

"Absoloutely not Mrs Connor, you're completely safe here, he's definitely not in the UK"

"Okay" Carla said, breathing a sigh of relief,

"We'll contact you in light of any new information, look after yourself"

"Thank you" Carla said as the two police officers left the room and left her to wonder why on Earth Frank Foster would leave the country and made her question whether they would ever find him.


	19. Chapter 19

Here's the next chapter! Thank you for all the reviews on the last chapter. For those of you asking about Rob I have plans to introduce him but not at the moment. I have some ideas planned so he will definitely be making an appearance at some point, just not in the near future. Also, I won't be able to update this until the end of the week as I am away this week so hopefully the next part will be up by the weekend. Thank you for your continued support on this story and I hope you're enjoying it! Please keep the reviews coming as I love reading them :)

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The next morning, Carla and Peter were waiting for a doctor to come and discharge Carla from hospital.

"How long will they be? I've been in here for days, I want to go home" Carla complained,

"I know you do love, they shouldn't be too much longer." Peter said, "Carla I've been thinking, why don't you come and stay with me at my flat. I don't think you should be going home, especially if your own your own"

"What about Simon? Do you even have the space? I don't want to get in your way"

"Carla, you wouldn't be getting in the way. I'd like you to come and stay, I want to look after you, make sure you're okay"

"Are you absoloutely sure"

"Of course I am"

"Okay, thank you" Carla said gratefully, relieved that she wouldn't have to return to her flat and all it's memories.

Just at that the doctor knocked on the door and entered the room.

"Morning Carla, how are you?"

"I'm fine thanks, can I go home today?" Carla asked,

"You can, yes. I'll prescribe you with some painkillers as you might suffer some headaches because you had a bit of concussion, I'll also give you some sleeping pills and remember if you want to, there's the option of talking to a rape councillor, it might help you a lot."

"Thank you, but I don't think talking will help" Carla replied, knowing that councilling just wasn't for her.

"Okay that's fine, but if you do change your mind, I'll give you some contact details to take away with you. I don't think it's wise to be staying on your own, do you have somewhere you can stay?" The doctor asked,

"Yeah she'll be stating with me for a while in my flat" Peter said,

"That's good, look after yourself" the Doctor smiled, leaving the room.

"Right then, let's get you home" Peter said, helping Carla up from the bed as she was still in some pain with her broken ribs.

Peter picked up her bag and the two of them slowly made their way out of the hospital.

Back in Weatherfield, at Ken and Deridre's, Simon was on his way to school with Deirdre.

"Grandma, when will I be going home?" Simon asked, having stayed at number one for the last few nights.

"Hopefully later on today Simon" Deirdre replied,

"That's good. I miss my dad. How come he's been away so much?" Simon asked,

"Your dad's been very busy Simon, but he missed you lots too and you'll see him soon"

"Okay grandma" Simon replied as they got to the school gates

"Enjoy your day Simon, see you after school, either me or your grandad will be here to pick you up"

"Okay Grandma", Simon said, running off into school.

Peter and Carla had just pulled up outside Peter's flat and Petet got out of the car and went round to Carla's side, opening the door for her and helping her out of the car. The two of them went up the stairs and into the flat where Peter placed Carla's bag down.

"Home sweet home" Peter smiled, "we'll not exactly home but better than hospital right?" he laughed,

"Yeah, I'm so glad to be out of there. Thank you so much for letting me stay with you, I don't think I would have coped being in the flat on my own where it happened"

"Your welcome to stay here for as long as you need. Why don't you sit down and I'll make us a coffee"

"Okay, thanks" Carla said, taking a seat.

Peter came over a few minutes later with two mugs of coffee and sat down next to Carla.

"Are you alright? Do you need any painkillers or anything?" Peter asked,

"No I'm fine thanks, I just took some before we left the hospital. Stop worrying your as bad as Michelle" Carla laughed,

"Sorry, I just care about you" Peter said sweetly,

"I know you do, thank you. But I'm fine"

"Promise?"

"I promise" Carla said.

After a few minutes of silence, both of them just sitting drinking their coffee, Carla spoke up,

"Peter?"

"Yes love?"

"Can I have a cuddle?"

"Of course you can, come here" he said, wrapping his arms around her, her head resting on his chest.

"I wish I could hold you like this in my arms forever" Peter said, kissing the top of her head.

Over at the factory, Michelle was in the office with Hayley whilst the machinists were all working hard.

"Carla's just text, they've let her home" Michelle said happily,

"That's great news" Hayley smiled

"Yeah, do you mind holding the fort for an hour or two, I'm going to go and see her" Michelle said,

"Of course, take as long as you want, give her my love"

"Will do, thanks Hayley, I'll see you later" Michelle said, leaving the factory.

Over at Peter's flat, Peter and Carla were still sat on the sofa when the buzzer rang, causing Carla to jump.

"I'll get it" Peter said, making his way to the door and pressing the buzzer.

"It's Michelle" he said, pressing the buzzer to let her up.

"Hi babe" Michelle said happily as she entered the flat. "Glad to be home?" She asked, hugging Carla and sitting down next to her on the sofa.

"So glad to be home. I couldn't have spent another night in that hospital"

"How are you?"

"I'm alright, still a bit sore but I'll be alright"

"Good, I hope you don't mind me popping round" Michelle said,

"Of course not" Peter said, "would you like a drink or anything?"

"Is love a coffee please"

"Carla would you like anything?"

"I'll have a coffee too please"

Peter went off to make the coffees leaving Carla and Michelle alone to chat.

"Chelle, could you do me a favour?"

"Of course I can"

"Well since I'm staying with Peter for a while I don't have any clothes or anything with me so I was wondering if you could go to my flat and pack me some bags? I would do it myself but I don't think I can face going back there yet"

"Of course I will, I'll go this afternoon"

"Thank you, I was going to ask Peter but he wouldn't have a clue where to find anything let alone know what to bring" Carla laughed

"Yeah well that's men for you, I wouldn't even trust Steve to pack an overnight bag for me" Michelle laughed.

Peter returned a few minutes later with a mug of coffee for Carla and Michelle, handing them both their drinks.

"How's things at the factory?" Carla asked, taking a drink of her coffee,

"Great, everyone's working really hard and meeting all the deadlines, I've tried to get rid of everything to do with Frank"

"Thanks Michelle, I really appreciate it"

"No problem, that's what friends are for right? I know you'd do the same for me"

"Of course I would"

Carla, Peter and Michelle sat and chatted for a few hours before realising the time.

"Is that 4:30 already?!" Peter said looking at the clock, "I'll need to pick Si up from my dad's"

"I best get going aswell I didn't realise how late it was" Michelle said, "do you want me to wait a bit until Peter gets back?" Michelle asked, not wanting Carla to be alone.

"It's fine Michelle, I'll be okay on my own for a bit" Carla said, feeling brave enough to be on her own until Peter picked Simon up, he couldn't be that long could he? It was only down the road.

"If your sure"

"Of course I am, you've probably got stuff to do"

"Alright, well I'll text you later then okay?"

"Yeah okay, and thanks for coming round"

"No problem, see you soon" Michelle said, hugging Carla goodbye and leaving the flat.

"Carla are you sure you'll be alright here on your own love? You can come with me if you want?"

"No it's fine Peter, stop worrying about me" Carla said, "now go, Simon will be waiting"

"Olay, I won't be long" Peter said, grabbing his jacket and heading down the stairs towards the door.

The minute that Peter was out of the flat and the door closed the courage that Carla had been building up quickly drained from her as she realised she was alone. The flat was completely silent without Michelle and Peter there, so silent that she could hear herself breathe. She sat there for a few minutes in the silence, when suddenly she jumped at the sound of a car door shutting outside. Her heart beat quickened and she took some deep breaths to calm herself down. Only now that she was completely alone was she realising exactly what Frank had done to her. He had reduced her to a quivering wreck who jumped at every slight sound and flinched every time someone touched her. She was terrified that any second he could come through the door and force her to endure the same emotional and physical pain that she experienced that night. Even though according to the police, Frank was in a different country, he was still firmly embedded in her mind. Vision of his brutal attack playing on repeat in her head. She stood up from the sofa, taking a minute to compose herself before going over to the sink and pouring herself a glass of water, this was going to be a long wait for Peter to get home...

At Ken and Deirdre's, Peter had just came in to collect Simon.

"Dad!" Simon said happily, jumping up from his seat and running to his dad, hugging him tightly.

"Hey pal, sorry you've had to stay here for a while but you can come home now" Peter said, ruffling his curls

"Grandma and Grandad said you were very busy. Are you not busy any more?" Simon asked innocently,

"Not really Si, the thing is mate, I need to talk to you about something before we go home."

"Are you okay dad?"

"Yeah I'm fine son, it's Carla, she's been.. a little bit poorly and she's had to stay in hospital for a few days" Peter explained, not going into any details, "and the thing is, she's not feeling completely better yet so I have to look after her for a while so if it's okay with you she's going to be staying with us for a little while in the flat, would you be okay with that?" Peter asked,

"Yeah, is Carla okay?"

"Hopefully she will be soon mate" Peter said, knowing that it could be months until Carla recovers fully from what happened.

"I'm going to make her a get well soon card, do you think she would like that?" Simon asked,

"I think she would Si, why don't you go and get your shoes and jacket on and we can head home okay?"

"Okay dad" Simon said, leaving the room to find his shoes.

"How has he been?" Peter asked when Simon was out of earshot,

"He's been fine, I think he's just glad that he's going home with you now" Deirdre said,

"Yeah, thank you for looking after him these last few days, I really appreciate it" Peter said gratefully,

"It's alright, we're glad to help" Ken said "how's Carla doing?"

"She's getting there, I'm just glad I can be there to look after her now that she's staying with us"

"Yeah, if there's anything we can do, even if it's just looking after Simon for a bit then you know where we are" Deirdre said kindly,

"Thank you" Peter smiled.

Just at that, Simon came back into the room ready to go home.

"Right then mate, let's get home yeah? Say bye to grandma and grandad"

"Bye Grandma, bye grandad!" Simon said, following Peter out of the house.

Back at the flat, Carla felt a huge relief when she heard Peter's key in the door after pacing the flat trying to distract herself while he was gone. She smiled as she heard Simon's footsteps running up the stairs and coming into the flat.

"Hi Carla! Dad said you were feeling poorly are you okay?"

"Yeah I'll be okay Simon, did you have fun with your grandma and grandad?" Carla asked as Peter entered the flat and joined both of them on the sofa.

"Yeah it was fun but I missed my dad though"

"And I missed you too" Peter said,

"Carla what happened to your head?" Simon asked, referring to the cut on Carla's head which was still covered with a plaster as the stitches had not yet been taken out.

"I was a bit silly and fell over, I banged my head so I have to have this plaster on it to make it better" Carla explained, not wanting to reveal any of the truth to Simon.

"I had a plaster like that on my knee once from playing football didn't I dad?"

"Yeah you did" Peter laughed,

"Does it hurt?" Simon asked,

"Only a little bit" Carla replied,

"Simon why don't you go and play in your room for bit, I'll shout you when tea's ready" Peter said.

Simon agreed and went off into his bedroom, closing the door leaving Peter and Carla alone on the sofa.

"Sorry about the twenty questions", Peter laughed, "what can I say, he's got an inquisitive nature"

"It's alright" Carla laughed, "he's just a kid, he's bound to ask questions. Are you sure he's alright with me staying here"

"Yeah he's fine with it, he likes you"

"Good, and you will tell me if I'm getting in your way won't you?"

"Carla, you won't be getting in the way, I love having you here, like I said, your welcome to stay as long as you want"

"Thank you" Carla said gratefully,

"What would you like for tea?" Peter asked, "I don't know what we've got in but I'm sure we can find something"

"Just whatever you've got, I don't mind"

"Well in that case we can have beans on toast" Peter joked, walking over to the kitchen,

"And here's me thinking you could cook" Carla laughed,

"I'm kidding, there's some pasta in here somewhere I'll make that" Peter said, going through the cupboards to find some pots, knocking some things over in the process.

"Would you like a hammer?" Carla laughed, watching Peter banging about in the cupboard,

"Great to see that knock to the head didn't affect your sarcasm"

"Of course not" Carla laughed "I'll never stop being sarcastic darling, keeps you on your toes"

Carla and Peter continued their chat and banter while Peter cooked dinner and ever since Peter had come back, Carla had felt completely comfortable and Peter had helped her to block out the visions of Frank from her head while she was in his company. She was so glad he was so supportive to her and was the only person she felt completely safe with since her attack. Slowly but surely, she was ready to begin to piece her life back together after Frank had completely broken her. The only thing stopping her from starting to move on was the fact that Frank was still out there, somewhere in the world, and she would never feel completely safe until he was caught. The only problem was finding him.


	20. Chapter 20

On the sunny island of Majorca, Frank was standing in an alleyway of a rough run down area by the sea. He began pacing the alleyway back and forwards nervously until a dark shadow started to walk towards him.

"Frank" a voice said, as a large man appeared from the distance.

"James, where the hell have you been?! You said you'd be here at 3:00"

"Alright chill out, it's only ten past. I hear your on the run, what can I do for you"

"I need your help" Frank said, leading him towards his car that was sitting by the roadside.

They both got in the car and Frank started the engine and started driving.

"Do you still have that boat?" Frank asked,

"Yeah I do, why?"

"I need you to do something for me"

Back in Weatherfield, Peter was busy in the kitchen making breakfast for himself and Carla. Deirdre had just picked Simon up to take him to school and Carla was still asleep in bed.

As Peter was finishing up with breakfast, Carla appeared in the doorway of the bedroom.

"morning" she said, walking into the kitchen,

"Morning love, how did you sleep?"

"As well as I could" Carla said

"Here, I made you a coffee, breakfast is almost ready" Peter said, handing her a mug.

"Thanks"

"No problem, sit down and I'll bring breakfast over"

Later on, Peter had finished eating breakfast and was glancing across the table at Carla who was playing with the food on her plate having headly eaten anything.

"Sorry if my cooking isn't great" Peter laughed,

"Sorry, your cooking's fine, I'm just not that hungry" Carla said,

"Carla you've got to eat sweetheart"

"I'll have something later" Carla said, putting down her fork.

"Okay" Peter said, not wanting to pressure her. "What do you want to do today?"

"Don't you have work?" Carla asked,

"No, i've got someone to cover my shift at the bookies"

"Peter you don't have to stay off work because of me"

"I want to" Peter said, "I don't want you to be on your own. I want to look after you"

Carla was touched by his kindness, "thank you"

"Have you heard from the police?" Peter asked,

"No, they said they'd get in touch if they had any more information but I haven't heard from them"

"They will find him you know, he can't hide forever, he won't come near this place again, he knows better" Peter said,

"What if he does though" Carla said, worry evident in her voice

"Carla, the minute he steps foot back into this country he'll be caught" Peter said, trying to reassure her.

"I'm so scared Peter" Carla said, tears filling her eyes, "I'm scared that at any time he could appear, he's out there somewhere, he could be watching me right now, just waiting for the right moment, waiting until I'm alone"

A few tears escaped from Carla's eyes and Peter's heart broke for her.

Peter wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a comforting hug, placing a gentle kiss on her forehead.

"I know your scared baby but I promise you I won't let him come near you, I'm sure the police are doing everything they can and they will find him. He'll be behind bars in no time" Peter said, hoping that the police would catch him soon.

In Majorca, Frank and James had arrived in a run down hotel, Frank had checked in under a fake identity and the two of them we're sat in a hotel room.

"Frank, do you want to tell me what's going on?" James asked,

Frank took a photo from his pocket and passed it to James. It was a photo of Carla, one he had took recently when watching her in the street with Peter.

"Who's this then? Your latest girl? She's certainly very pleasing on the eye" James grinned,

"I need to get her back, something happened the other day, everything was going so well and I blew it. I need your help getting her over here"

"Frank how do you expect me to do that?"

"The same way you did the last time I asked you to get someone somewhere"

"And I nearly got caught! I could have got sent down for that!" James said irritably,

"Yeah but you didn't did you? And there'll be a nice reward in it for you"

"Oh yeah? What would that be then?"

"£500,000" Frank said smugly, knowing that James would agree to the deal.

"Where are you going to get that kind of money?" he asked,

"Oh James" Frank laughed, "I'm a successful businessman incase you've forgotten"

"Yeah alright I'll do it"

"You didn't take much persuading" Frank grinned,

"I need the money, and also if it means I get to spend some time with that beautiful woman then I'd be happy to help." James smirked

"Don't be getting any ideas now, she's mine", Frank said firmly

In Weatherfield, Peter and Carla were sat in Peter's flat having just finished breakfast and got dressed.

"Why don't we go somewhere?" Peter suggested, "I'll take you out, is there anywhere you'd like to go?"

"I don't really feel up to going anywhere" Carla said,

"It doesn't have to be anywhere special, just maybe a walk or something? Or even just go for a drive in the car? It's a nice day, I think it would do you good to get out for a bit"

"Yeah okay, I suppose it would be good to get out for a bit" Carla said, "let me go and sort myself out a bit then and we'll go"

Carla went into the bedroom running a brush through her hair and changing her tracksuit into a pair of leggings and a loose fitting jumper. She sat down in front of the mirror, applying some makeup to cover the dark circles under her eyes. She looked at the cut on her head, the plaster was still on to cover the stitches but could be mostly hidden by her hair. Before leaving the bedroom, she put some blusher on her cheeks to try and give her pale skin some colour and pulled down the sleeves on her jumper to ensure that they covered the bruises that remained on her wrists. She took a deep breath and walked back through to the living area of the flat where Peter was waiting. She wasn't quite sure if she was ready to go out yet but what she did know was that she would be okay with Peter by her side.

"Are you ready?" Peter asked,

"Yeah, let's go then" Carla said, following him out of the flat.

Both of them got into Peter's car and he drove for about half an hour in the sunshine with the windows down and the music playing quietly in the background before pulling up at the edge of a little river.

"Why don't we get out and sit down for a bit, there's a nice spot to sit over there" Peter said,

"You know all the romantic spots don't you" Carla said, admiring the scenery around her, "come on then Romeo" she said, unclipping her seatbelt and getting out the car, Peter following behind her.

They found a spot to sit by the river and Peter took off his jacket and laid it down on the grass for them both to sit on. They sat for a few hours just chatting and being content in each other's company before deciding it was time to go back to Weatherfield.

At Number One, Ken and Deridre were about to take a walk to the school to pick up Simon.

"Ken, I've been thinking" Deridre said as she put her coat on ready to go out, "why don't we invite Peter and Carla round for tea some time"

"Yeah that's a good idea, why don't you say to Peter the next time you see him" Ken said,

"Yeah I will, I'll speak to him when he picks up Simon tomorrow" Deirdre said,

"Yeah, I just hope that they know what they'll be letting themselves in for with your cooking" Ken laughed, "come on, we best go and get Simon, I'll take Eccles" Ken said, grabbing his coat and putting a collar on Eccles before following Deirdre out of the house to pick up Simon.

Later on that night, with Simon spending the night at Ken and Deirdre's, Peter and Carla had spent the evening in front of the TV watching films and it was now coming up to midnight. Carla had already gone to bed and Peter was dozing off whilst watching TV. He was almost asleep when he was woken by a scream coming from the bedroom. His heart began to race as he ran through to find Carla sat upright in bed sweating and shaking.

"Carla, are you alright?! What's happened?!" Peter said rushing over to the bed.

"He- he was here. Frank.. Was here" Carla sobbed, lifting her shaking hand to wipe the tears that were now falling down her cheeks.

"It's okay baby, it was just a bad dream, I'm here, he's not coming anywhere near you" Peter said, hugging her tightly to comfort her. He could feel her whole body trembling beneath his touch as he held her close to him.

"Shh, it's alight" he said gently, trying to calm her down.

"Can you stay with me please?" Carla asked, looking up at him, her eyes filled with tears.

"Of course I can", Peter said, climbing into bed with her and holding her in his arms until she eventually fell back asleep. Only when he was sure she was no longer awake did he allow himself to drift off to sleep.

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Coming up:

Carla has a hospital appointment but having seen her suffer a traumatic nightmare, can Peter convince her to seek professional help?

The police pay Carla a visit but do the come with the news she is hoping for?

Peter and Carla go to Ken and Deirdre's for tea...

What does James have planned?

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Thanks for all the reviews so far, sorry this update has taken a bit longer than usual, been so busy this week! Hope you enjoy this chapter and like the sound of what's coming up!

Please Review :)


	21. Chapter 21

The next morning, Carla and Peter were sitting in the car outside the hospital about to go in for Carla's appointment.

"Are you sure you're alright to come with me?" Carla asked, before they got out the car,

"Of course, unless you don't want me to come? I'll wait in the car if you'd rather?"

"No, I'd like you to come, it's just I'm sure you've got other things you'd rather be doing"

"Nothing as important as you" Peter said sweetly, "Carla, I need to ask you this and please don't take this the wrong way, but don't you think it would do you good to speak to someone, like that councillor your doctor suggested" Peter said nervously, not sure how Carla would take it,

"No, Peter please don't start on this again, I can't" she said, starting to panick,

"It might not be a bad thing, it might help you" Peter said,

"No" Carla refused, "I don't need professional help"

"I can help you but only so much" Peter said, "I won't be able to help you like professionals can"

"You can Peter, you know me, they don't, I don't want to talk to strangers, they don't know how my mind works, they don't know what's going on up here" Carla said, tapping the side of her head with her finger.

"Alright, okay, if you don't want to do it then that's okay, but if you do change your mind-"

"I won't" Carla said firmly, refusing to accept professional help.

Peter gave up, accepting the fact that he wasn't getting through to her and undid his seatbelt, "come on then, we best go in"

Over in Majorca, Frank and James were sat in the harbour as James was about to get on his boat that was waiting in the dock.

"Do you understand what you have to do?" Frank asked,

"Of course I do." James said confidently, "we've been over this so many times Frank" he said casually,

"I don't think you quite understand how important it is that you do this properly. I'm already on the run, I can't afford to be caught having anything to do this, do you understand? DO YOU UNDERSTAND?" Frank repeated, getting increasingly frustrated.

"Yes. I get Carla, bring her here, don't get caught. Simple." James smirked, knowing he was winding Frank up.

"Right. You best get going then. I've managed to rent a flat not far from that hotel we were in, I've written down the address for you. I'll be waiting" Frank said, shoving a piece of paper in James' hand with an address scribbled on it.

Both men then went their separate ways and James stepped on to the large boat that was waiting.

Frank watched from the harbour as James sailed his boat off into the distance, knowing that when he returned, Carla would be with him.

Back at Peter's flat, Carla and Peter had just arrived back from the hospital. Carla had the stitches removed from the cut on her head which was now healing and the doctors were pleased at how her injuries were healing. Although physically she was recovering well, the doctors voiced concern for her emotional state, however Carla, being as stubborn as she is, had convinced them that she was getting better.

"Can I get you anything?" Peter asked, havering by the doorway of the flat as they entered,

"No I'm alright, sit down will you? Your making me nervous standing there" Carla laughed,

"Sorry" Peter apologised, sitting next to her on the sofa. "I was on the phone to Deirdre earlier, she asked if we wanted to go for tea tonight? Only if you want to?" Peter asked,

"That was nice of her, I suppose we could go for a few hours, if she's sure it's no trouble" Carla said, determined to try and get out for a bit and start to get her life back on track, she wasn't sure this would be a good idea but she agreed to go, even if it was just to try and stop everyone from worrying about her.

"Great. I'll call Deridre and tell her, I've said I'll pick Simon up from school? Would you like to come with me?"

"If you want me to? Will that be alright with Simon?"

"Of course it will" Peter said,

"Peter, I think I'm going to go into the factory for a bit." Carla said,

"Are you sure that's a good idea? Are you ready to go back yet?" Peter asked, concerned.

"I just need to get out for a bit, I feel so helpless sitting around all day doing nothing, I'll just be in the office with Michelle, I won't over do it I promise. I just need to check everything's going alright, put my mind at rest."

"Okay, if that's what you want. Do you want me to walk you over?"

"No it's okay, I'll be fine walking over on my own"

"Okay, I'll come over and get you when I'm going to get Simon?"

"Yeah okay, see you later" she said, kissing him goodbye, grabbing her bag and heading out of the flat towards underworld.

Carla avoided eye contact with everyone in the street on the way over, keeping her eyes firmly on her feet, only looking up to cross the road. When she arrived at the factory and walked in, the whole place fell into an uncomfortable silence, the workers all looking at each other helplessly, not knowing what to say to the woman stood in front of them. Carla knew it would be hard to face the place for the first time but she had underestimated the awkward atmosphere in the air.

"Hi everyone" she said nervously, looking up for the first time at the faces looking back at her. The whole place was silent except the buzzing of the machines in the background.

"Mrs Connor, how are you?" Hayley asked sensitively, getting up from her machine and walking over to where Carla was stood by the door, "can I get you anything? Tea? Coffee?"

"Coffee would be great thanks Hayley, is Michelle in the office?"

"Yeah she is" Hayley said, going off and busying herself making coffee. As Carla was about to go into the office, Sean spoke,

"We're so sorry to hear what happened, you didn't deserve that" he said, followed by a look of agreement from the rest of the machinists,

"Thank you" Carla said, managing a small smile before opening the sort to the office and going to find Michelle.

"Carla, what are you doing here?" Michelle asked, shocked to see Carla walking into the office,

"I do own this place Chelle" Carla laughed,

"You know what I mean, are you sure your ready to come back?"

"Michelle please don't, I've just had that from Peter" Carla said, getting tired of everyone wanting her to take it easy, "I'm alright, just please let me do this, I can't sit about all day and do nothing, I need to get my life back together"

"Okay" Michelle said, sitting down in the office chair across from Carla, "how was your hospital appointment"

"It was fine thanks, everything's healing as it should be"

"That's good, your head certainly looks a lot better now you've got those bandages off"

"Yeah.. How's things here?"

"Great, everyone's been working really hard, they've met all the deadlines, you've nothing to worry about" Michelle smiled,

"I wasn't worrying, I knew you'd be able to handle this place. Thank you" Carla said gratefully,

"No problem, like I said before, that's what friends are for" Michelle said, reaching across the desk and taking Carla's hand in hers, "have you heard anything from the police?"

"No, only that he's not in the country"

"Well that's a good thing I suppose" Michelle said,

"Yeah I guess, but I'm still looking over my shoulder for him, scared that he's out there somewhere, my mind won't be at rest until he's behind bars where he belongs"

"I know, but there's no way he'll come back here, he won't get the chance, the police will catch him as soon as he sets foot back in the UK"

"Yeah that's what Peter said"

"Well we both can't be wrong can we?"

"Yeah I suppose not" Carla said, switching on the computer in front of her and typing in the password.

After about an hour of looking through the books for the last week or so that Carla hadn't been there, she went out to the shop floor where Michelle was checking over the order.

"Michelle, can I have a word please?" Carla said, as Michelle followed her into the office.

"What's up?" Michelle asked

"Well, I've just been looking over what you've been doing the last few days" Carla said,

"Everything alright?" Michelle asked,

"Yeah, everything's great. Actually, feel free to say no, but I was wondering, if you'd like to make this a more permanent fixture"

"What do you mean?" Michelle asked,

"What I mean is, there's a job here for you if you want it. I know you still have the pub so you might not want to work here but you've done a great job here, I'm impressed"

"Are you serious?"

"Of course I am" Carla laughed, "so what do you say? Me and you running this place"

"I'd love to, Steve won't mind running the pub, we've got plenty of staff over there anyway and I'll help at night if he needs me. Are you absoloutely sure about this?" Michelle asked excitedly

"Michelle, for the millionth time, yes" Carla laughed,

"Thank you" Michelle said, hugging Carla tightly, "I won't let you down"

"I know you won't" Carla said confidently.

Just at that, Peter walked in to the factory and through to the office.

"Hi, you two look happy, is there something to celebrate?"

"There is actually" Carla said, "Michelle has just accepted a permanent job at Underworld"

"That's great news" Peter said, "congratulations"

"Thanks" Michelle said happily,

"I forgot to mention earlier Chelle, I'm going with Peter to pick up Simon from school, will you hold the fort for me please?"

"Yeah sure, take as long as you need. If you want the rest of the day off I'll lock up"

"Thanks love" Carla said as her and Peter left the factory and started walking to the school to pick up Simon.

Peter and Carla were standing at the school gates as the bell rang and a few minutes later Simon came running over to them.

"Hi dad, hi Carla"

"Hey Si, how was school?" Peter asked, taking his school bag from him and carrying it.

"It was alright, we played football at break time and I scored two goals!" Simon said happily,

"That's great" Peter said enthusiastically, "how do you fancy tea at Grandma and Grandad's tonight? Me and Carla are going to come too"

"Okay!"

"I've already warned Carla about grandma Deirdre's cooking" Peter joked,

"Aww it can't be that bad" Carla said,

"It is" Simon laughed,

"He's right you know" Peter laughed, "let's hope it's not stuffed marrow"

The three of them continued to chat and laugh amongst themselves whilst they walked home and soon arrived back at the flat.

"I have homework" Simon moaned as he picked up his school bag and opened it up,

"Well you can do it now before we go round to Grandma and Grandad's" Peter said, helping Simon get his books from his bag.

"It's spelling. Dad can you help me?"

"Yeah sure, go and sit at the table then and I'll help you"

"Would you like a drink Si?" Peter asked, just as he was about to sit down,

"Yeah please" Simon replied,

"Peter I'll get that, you help Simon with his homework" Carla said, going over to the kitchen,

"What would you like Simon?" Carla asked,

"Orange juice please"

Carla poured a glass of orange juice and took it over to the table with a cup of tea for herself and Peter.

"Thank you" Simon said as Carla passed him his drink.

Not long later, they were interrupted by the buzzer ringing.

"I'll get that" Peter said, standing up and going over to the door.

"Hello.. Yeah come up" Peter said, pressing the buzzer to let whoever it was in.

"Simon, could you go to your room for a minute please?" Peter asked, "and make sure you close your door all the way"

"Okay" Simon said, doing as he was told and going into his room, closing the door behind him.

"Who is it?" Carla asked,

"It's the police"

Carla's mind suddenly went into overdrive about what they were coming to tell her and she hoped it would be good news.

"It's going to be alright" Peter said, taking hold of her hand, knowing that she was scared. He gave her hand a quick squeeze before going over to the door and opening it, allowing two police officers to enter the flat.

"Mrs Connor, Mr Barlow, we're sorry to interrupt but we've come to update you on the situation with Frank Foster."

"Have you found him?" Peter asked immediately, hoping for Carla's safety that he was behind bars.

"Unfortunately not" the police officer said sadly.

Peter found Carla's hand and took it in his, squeezing it reassuringly, hoping that there was some good to come of this visit.

"We're here to let you know that Mr Foster is still outside of the UK. We have officers out looking for him in Spain as that's where he flew to but we're unsure of his exact whereabouts at the moment"

"So you mean he could be anywhere?!" Peter asked rather angrily.

"What we do know is that he is a safe distance away from Mrs Connor at the moment. We've informed all ports and airports that we're looking for him so the minute he steps foot back into the country he will be caught. We're doing everything we can to find him" the police officer said, trying to reassure them.

"So what do we do now then?" Carla asked, speaking for the first time since the police had come in, "do we just sit around and wait until he attempts to come back?"

"There's not a lot we can do at the moment I'm afraid Mrs Connor, as I said, we're doing everything we can. I really wish we had come with better news. As soon as we know anymore, we'll be sure to let you know"

"Okay, thank you" Carla said, still not satisfied with their attempts of finding him.

"I'll show you out" Peter said, showing the two officers to the door.

When they had both left, Peter went over and hugged Carla tightly, "they will find him you know, it might take a while but he can't hide forever. I promise your safe with me, I won't let him come near you"


	22. Chapter 22

So sorry for the delay in updating this, had no internet for the past few days so haven't been able to post the next chapter! Thank you so much for the reviews, especially the people who regularly review every chapter, that really means a lot. Hope you enjoy the next part and hopefully it won't be as long before the next update!

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Carla and Peter had just arrived outside the door of Ken and Deridre's with Simon where they were about to go for dinner.

"Are you sure your up to this?" Peter asked as he was about to knock on the door.

"Yeah, I'll be fine" Carla reassured him, feeling a lot more confident than she had done earlier that day after spending the afternoon back at work.

"Well, don't say I didn't warn you, the Barlow's can be a bit full on, especially when Tracy's there"

"Don't worry, I can handle it" Carla laughed as Peter knocked on the door.

Within a few seconds, Deirdre answered the door in her apron, "hello, come in, lovely to see you all"

"Hiya Deirdre, you look busy" Peter laughed as Simon ran through to join Amy after saying hello to his grandma.

"Well, stuffed marrow like mine is hard work"

"I'm sure it is" Peter chuckled, following Simon through to the front room.

"Hi Deirdre, thanks for inviting us, it was really nice of you" Carla said politely,

"It's no problem, how are you doing?" Deirdre asked sympathetically,

"I'm alright thanks" Carla said, "getting there, thanks to Peter, he's been brilliant"

"That's good to hear, Peter's been so worried about you. I haven't seen him this happy for a while though, I think you're good for him" Deirdre said, smiling.

"Thanks Deirdre, that means a lot, and he certainly makes me happy as well, as happy as I can be at the moment anyway"

"I'm sure things will get better Carla, you'll get through this" Deirdre said reassuringly, "come on, dinner won't be long" she said, leading Carla through to the front room to join everyone else. Carla took a seat at the table next to Peter as Deirdre busied herself in the kitchen.

Later on, after everyone had finished dinner, conversation was flowing at the table and Carla had found the evening surprisingly enjoyable.

"so are you two officially together then?" Tracy asked Peter and Carla,

"We are yeah" Peter said, taking hold of Carla's hand discreetly under the table.

"Didn't take you long to move on from Leanne" Tracy commented, much to Ken and Deridre's disappoinemt, "how many step-mums is that Simon's had now?" Tracy said harshly,

"Tracy!" Ken warned, not wanting to start an argument.

"Well I suppose anyone's better than Leanne" Tracy said.

Carla shifted uncomfortably in her seat as she caught Peter's eye,

"Carla and I are very happy together Tracy" Peter said confidently, smiling at Carla who was sat next to him.

"We are" Carla agreed, "Peter's made me the happiest I've been for a long time"

"And if they're happy we're happy" Deirdre said, trying to stop Tracy from going any further, knowing what she was like once she got going.

"Yeah, sorry" Tracy apologised, realising for the first time how serious Carla and Peter were.

"Anyway, who wants desert?" Deirdre asked,

"Me!" Simon and Amy said almost in unison.

As Deirdre went through to the kitchen, everyone began to talk among themselves. Amy looked across the table at Carla, admiring her nails that she had painted the day before.

"I like your nails Carla, they're pretty" Amy said sweetly,

"Thank you darling, I like yours too" Carla said, referring to Amy's pink nails, "did your mum do them for you?"

"No grandma did, mum isn't very good at it. Could you do mine like that? I want mine the same colour as yours"

"I can if you want, how about next time you come round and see Simon I'll do it for you"

"Cool! Thanks!" Amy said excitedly, turning round to Simon and chatting away to him.

"Looks like you've got yourself a little fan there" Peter laughed,

"Yeah, shame her mum doesn't feel the same though", looking over at Tracy who was in the kitchen helping Deirdre,

"Don't take it personally, she's like that with everyone"

Later on that night, back at the flat, Peter had just settled Simon for the night after reading him a story. He joined Carla on the sofa who had now changed into her pyjamas and made them both a cup of tea.

"So, how was dinner with the Barlow's then?" Peter asked,

"I actually enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would, I've never really got on with any of my in laws to be honest so it was nice to have someone actually be nice to me for once without being glared at across the table, well except for Tracy but I wasn't expecting anything else"

"Didn't you get on with Paul's mum and dad? They seemed nice enough from what I've seen of them" Peter said,

"Well I always got on alright with Barry I suppose but Helen hated me from the minute Paul first introduced me, I think she was glad that she was finally getting rid of me when Paul died." Carla said sadly,

"Well Ken and Deridre certainly don't feel that way" Peter reassured her, "and sorry about Tracy but like I said, she's like that with everyone"

"Don't worry about it" Carla laughed, "she's certainly one of a kind that one"

"Yeah, she's alright in small doses" Peter laughed, "I shouldn't really say that because she's my sister but it's true. She could start a fight in an empty room. Although I do think you two could be good friends if you got the change to get to know each other, you've got a similar sense of humour."

"Yeah, either that or we'll fight like cat and dog" Carla laughed, "although I do hope we don't, I don't fancy being in the firing line of Tracy Barlow"

"Oh I reckon you could definitely handle Tracy, I pity anyone who's had to go up against you in an argument" Peter laughed, "you'd wipe the floor with them every time"

"Well, it's one of my many talents" Carla joked, "wait till we have our first domestic"

"Hopefully that won't be anytime soon then" Peter laughed, "did I tell you how beautiful you looked tonight?" Peter said, gazing into her eyes,

"You did, but feel free to tell me again" Carla laughed,

"You looked so beautiful, I'm so happy that I can call you mine" Peter said, cupping her face with his hands and leaning in to kiss her. As their lips met, the kiss deepened and became more passionate with every second that passed.

After a few minutes, Carla pulled away, looking into Peter's eyes,

"Are you okay?" Peter asked, sensing a look of sadness in her eyes.

"Yeah I'm fine, it's nothing" Carla said casually,

"Carla, if there's something wrong you can tell me" Peter said sensitively,

"It's just.. I'm scared I can't give you what you want"

"You give me everything I want baby" Peter said,

"Not everything.. I want you to come to bed with me Peter, but I'm so sorry, I just can't yet.." Carla's voice shook with emotion as she spoke,

"It's okay, I'm not going to lie to you I would like that too but I completely understand that you're not ready. I don't want to make you feel pressured into anything, I'll wait as long as it takes until you're comfortable, however long that might be I'll wait."

"I'm sorry, I know you'd never do to me what he did but I'm not ready, i just wish none of this had happened, after everything he did it's like he's still taking from me. He's probably on some Spanish island somewhere with not a care in the world that he's tore my life apart."

"Hopefully he's rotting in a gutter somewhere" Peter said angrily,

"I wish I had never met him, I wish he'd never signed that stupid contract" Carla said, tears now threatening to spill from her eyes.

"None of this is your fault Carla, if you hadn't signed that contract he would still be trying to get you to sign it, he wouldn't have given up, a bloke like him would have got you to sign it eventually. Men like him don't take no for an answer, he's a disgusting man, please don't ever blame yourself sweetheart"

"But why me though Peter, why is it my life he had to choose to destroy" Carla cried,

"I don't know baby, I wish I could take all this pain away from you, he will pay for what he did" Peter said,

"How do you know that Peter? The police might never find him, he could be anywhere in the world right now, he could be right outside the door for all we know" Carla said,

"You heard what the police said, the minute he gets back in the country he'll be caught"

"Yeah but do you think he hasn't thought about that? Don't you think he would have found a way around getting caught?"

"Carla you've got to stop thinking like this, I know your scared baby but he's not going to get to you, I'll make sure of it." Peter said reassuringly,

"Promise?"

"Pinky promise" Peter smiled, linking his pinky finger with Carla's before wrapping his arms around her in a comforting embrace.

"Frank. It's me. That's me just arrived in Manchester." James said down the phone whilst trying to makes his way through the masses of people who have just piled off the train at Piccadilly train station.

"Good. And you've not been caught anywhere?"

"Frank if I had been caught I'd be at the police station not on the phone to you."

"Alright, just checking. Where are you heading now?"

"I'm going to spend the night in a B&B then head for Weatherfield first thing in the morning"

"Good. Any idea how long you'll be?"

"Frank, things like this take a lot of careful planning. I can't rush it and risk getting caught. Be patient"

"Alright. Keep me updated." Frank said, hanging up the phone.

Outside the train station, James climbed into an empty taxi. "where's the nearest B&B mate?" James asked,

"About ten minutes away" the taxi driver replied, as James slipped his mobile in his pocket and put on his seatbelt, ready to get to B&B for some rest before his plan commenced the next day.


	23. Chapter 23

A few days had passed and Carla had been in and out of work for a few hours each day with Michelle now officially employed at underworld helping Carla run the place. It was early morning and Carla had not long woken up and was having breakfast with Peter before the two of them went off to work for the day.

"Are you sure your up to a full day at work?" Peter asked, taking a bite from the piece of toast in his hand.

"Yes, for the hundredth time Peter, I'm fine" Carla laughed, taking a drink of coffee.

"Alright, well why don't you pop home at lunch time, I'll meet you here and we can have lunch together"

"Yeah sounds lovely" Carla smiled, finishing the last of her breakfast and putting the plate in the sink. "I best be off baby" Carla said, grabbing her bag and kissing Peter goodbye before leaving the flat and heading off to work. Peter still wasn't sure she was ready to return to work full time yet but there was no chance she would listen to him. He couldn't help but wish she wouldn't be as stubborn sometimes. Peter got up from the table and quickly tidied up the flat before leaving for work.

Over at underworld, Carla had just arrived outside the factory where the machinists were gathered by the door waiting to be let in.

"Morning everyone" Carla said as she reached into her handbag to get the keys, opening the door and letting them in. Just as Carla was about to go in, she heard the sound of heels against the cobbles and turned round to see Michelle coming towards her.

"Morning" Michelle said happily, "how are you?"

"I'm alright thanks, glad to be back at work, get a bit of normality" Carla said, walking into the building with Michelle.

"You won't be saying that in a few hours if this order isn't finished and you have to listen to that lot all morning" Michelle laughed, referring to the machinists, they were good workers but they were constantly chatting and gossiping over the machines.

"True that" Carla laughed, "but I wouldn't change them"

"Morning Mrs Connor" Hayley said happily as she noticed Carla make her way into the office, "can I get you a coffee?"

"Coffee would be great thanks love"

"Michelle?"

"Yeah love one Hayley, thanks" Michelle replied as Hayley left the office to make the coffee's.

"What have we got on today then?" Michelle asked, turning on the computer,

"That huge pile of paperwork needs doing, there's a load of emails to reply to and that order needs to be finished and out the door in the next two hours."

"Right, I'll get started on the paperwork then"

"Okay, I'll check my emails then help you" Carla said, typing in her password on the computer just as Hayley came in with two mugs of coffee.

"Thanks Hayley, how's that order going?" Carla asked,

"Not too bad, should be done in the next half hour. It all still has to be packed though"

"Okay, well we might need to send a few of them down to packing to help Kirk, let me know when it's finished will you?"

"Of course, I'll get back to work" Hayley said, going back out and sitting by her machine.

"How's Carla doing?" Sean asked from the machine next to Hayley. "Does she seem okay?"

"She seems alright I think, but you know what she's like, always putting on a brave face" Hayley said, concern evident in her voice,

"Yeah, I do hope she's alright" Sean said, he had always been fond of Carla and the two of them has formed a friendship since they had been working together at Underworld.

"She will get through this" Hayley said confidently, "she's one of the strongest people I know"

Outside underworld, parked out of view of any passers by, James sat in his van. Without her knowing, James had been watching Carla since last night. He had saw her leaving her flat that morning and walking to work, followed not long later by Peter who went to the bookies. While he waited for her to emerge from the factory again, he pulled his mobile from his pocket and dialled Frank's number. Within a few seconds Frank answered.

"Hello?"

"Hi, it's me. I'm in Weatherfield"

"Good. Have you seen her yet?"

"I sure have, and she's even more attractive in person if that's possible" James smirked,

"I warned you already, don't be getting any ideas" Frank said threateningly.

"Chill out Frank, I know what you said. She's in work now. I'm just waiting for her to come back out. She's bound to go for a lunch break soon. Hopefully she'll go back to her flat" James explained. "I'll keep you updated" he said, ending the call and putting the phone back in his pocket.

"Is this paperwork ever going to end?!" Carla moaned, looking at the pile of work that she still had to do. "I've been doing it for hours and that pile doesn't seem to be getting any smaller"

"Well I can take over for a bit, Kirk's just left with that order so it'll get delivered in time. Why don't you take an early lunch?" Michelle suggested.

"Are you sure you'll be alright on your own"

"Yeah, go on, you need a break"

"Okay, I was going to meet Peter in twenty minutes for lunch anyway, I'll be back at 2, call me if you need me." Carla said, putting on her coat, "I'll see you later".

Carla left the factory, walking across the cobbles and into the flat to wait for Peter. She still had time before they had agreed to meet so she flicked the kettle on and made herself a cup of coffee. Little did she know, James had been watching her from his van and knew she was alone.

Carla was sat on the sofa finishing off her cup of coffee when she heard the sound of the door opening from downstairs. She had locked it behind her so she assumed it would be Peter as he was the only one who had a key. She heard him coming up the stairs and went into the kitchen to make him a coffee. She glanced up at the clock hanging on the wall. Ten minutes early.

"Hi, how was work? I've just put the kettle on" Carla said, hearing the flat door opening and closing. "Peter?" She asked, after receiving no reply, she turned around, coming face to face with the man in her flat. Her whole body froze with fear and she dropped the cup of coffee she had in her hand, smashing it and causing it's contents to spill all over the floor.

"Wh-what do you want?" Carla asked, her voice shaking with fear.

"Just running a little errand for a friend of mine" James smirked,

"How did you get in?!" She asked, her whole body beginning to tremble with fear.

"Let's just say I know a thing or two about picking locks" he said, moving closer to her,

Carla edged away from him, terrified of what he was going to do next.

"What do you want?" Carla asked again, this time more firmly, despite her trembling hands which she folded across her chest protectively.

"You see Carla, the thing is, this friend of mine, he tells me your not one for co-operating willingly, he had quite a bit of trouble getting what he wanted last time, but he did eventually."

Carla felt sick to her stomach, realisation sidedly hitting her that he had been sent by Frank.

"Frank" she said, her voice barely audible,

"You're right. Now we can do this the easy way or the hard way, Frank's waiting for you, what's it to be?" James threatened,

"There's no way I'm going anywhere near him" Carla said firmly, edging further away from him.

"Oh I think you'll find you are"

Carla attempted to make a run for the door but just as she reached it, James grabbed her from behind, pulling her away and throwing her onto the sofa.

"Get off me!" Carla screamed, "leave me alone!"

Out on the street, Peter was making his way home to the flat. He opened the door and panicked the minute he heard Carla shouting from upstairs. He ran up the stairs and burst into the flat coming face to face with a man who was towering above Carla who was now forcefully trying to fight him off.

"Peter" Carla sobbed helplessly,

"Get off her!" Peter screamed, throwing himself at James, attempting to free Carla.

Before Peter had time to react, James picked up a vase that was sat on the table and hit Peter on the head causing him to lose consciousness and fall to the floor.

"What have you done to him?!" Carla sobbed, using strength she didn't know she had to push past him and fell to her knees next to Peter's lifeless body.

"Peter, baby can you hear me? Wake up for me.. Please" Carla cried helplessly.

"Looks like loverboy's out cold" James said, grabbing Carla by the arms and pulling her roughly to her feet. "Please get him help" Carla sobbed helplessly, "please".

James ignored her pleas, putting his hand into his pocket and pulling out a small bottle filled with clear liquid. He went over to the kitchen and grabbed a towel while Carla once again tried to get Peter to come round. He poured the contents of the bottle onto the towel and went over to where Carla was sitting.

"Get off! Please just help him" Carla begged as James tried to grab her. She kicked and screamed trying to get him off her but in one swift movement he had placed the towel over her mouth, muffling her cries for help and forcing her to breathe in the fumes of the liquid. Carla continued to thrash her head from side to side but it was useless. She could feel her eyes become heavy as she breathed in the strong fumes from the towel. Her vision started to become blurry and her whole body became weak. She used every last bit of strength she had to try and get free from his grasp but eventually her eyes fluttered closed and everything went black.

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Please review :) every review is appreciated and I love reading them, gives me more motivation to update quicker! Hope you enjoyed that chapter and the next one will be up soon!


	24. Chapter 24

Here's the next chapter, sorry for the delays in updating, bee so busy recently so haven't had much time to write. Thank you so much for all the reviews on the last chapter, I put a lot of work into it so hopefully you enjoyed it. If you haven't already, please review because I love reading them and seeing what people think, it motivates me to write the next part. Huge thank you to Cln9 and Boo112 who always review, I always love reading your comments! :)

Hope you are still liking this story and enjoy the next chapter!

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As the weight of Carla's lifeless body fell against him, James quickly checked on Peter, ensuring that he still had a pulse and was breathing. He did his best to rid the flat of his fingerprints, wiping the surfaces he had touched with the towel in his hand.

"Come on Carla, Frank's waiting" he smirked cruelly, lifting her up and carrying her to the door of the flat.

Over at Underworld, Michelle was busy working away in the office, still trying to get through the paperwork.

"Michelle, do you know if Carla's coming back in today? She said she wanted to speak to me about the rota or something" Hayley asked, coming into the office.

"Yeah she should be, she said she'd be back by 2" Michelle said, looking up at the clock and noticing it was 2:45, "I didn't realise that was the time, I'll give her a call"

Michelle got her phone out from her bag and called Carla, finding it strange that she got no answer. She tried a few more times and after getting through to voicemail four times she gave up.

"Hayley, will you keep an eye on this place for a bit, I'm going to pop over and see if Carla's alright, I can't get a hold of her" Michelle said, picking up her bag.

"Yeah sure, take as long as you need" Hayley smiled, picking up a clipboard and going onto the shop floor.

Michelle left the factory and went over to Peter's flat, ringing the buzzer. On receiving no answer she rang again, and again until deciding enough was enough and trying the door. She was surprised to find the door unlocked and she immediately panicked thinking the worst.

"Carla?" She called up the stairs, "Carla, are you there? Peter?"

She was met with silence and decided to venture up the stairs, dreading what she might find. She was terrified Frank had come back and she would enter the flat to find Carla on the floor after being viciously attacked again. She couldn't bear to find her like that. She braced herself, putting her trembling hand on the door handle and opening it,

"Hello?" she called out, stepping into the flat

"Oh my god Peter" she said, throwing herself to the floor beside him, frantically checking for a pulse.

"Peter, can you hear me?" She said, shaking him gently,

After a few minutes, Peter's eyes began to open.

"Carla?"

"Peter it's Michelle, don't move you've had a knock to the head" Michelle said, observing the lump forming on the back of his head, "what happened?" Michelle asked,

"Carla" Peter said again, "call the police"

"Okay, Peter I need you to tell me where Carla is" Michelle said, getting increasingly concerned,

"I need to get Carla, some man... came in here... Call the police... He's got Carla"

"Oh my god" Michelle said, panicking, "I'll call the police"

She grabbed her phone from her pocket, frantically dialling 999.

"Hi, police and ambulance please, the flat above the bookies, okay, thanks"

She hung up the phone, getting some frozen peas from the freezer, "here, put these on your head" Michelle said, holding the ice against the swelling on Peter's head, "are you alright?" she asked,

"Yeah I'm fine, I just need to get Carla. I need to make sure Carla's safe."

"I know, the police will be here in a minute, they'll know what to do, and you need to get to hospital."

"No. I'm not going to hospital" Peter said determinedly, "not until I know Carla's okay", he said, seeming a lot more alert than when Michelle had found him.

"Peter you'll have to, you were out cold when I got here, you could have done some serious damage!"

"But what about Carla?!" Peter said helplessly, tears forming in his eyes,

"The police will find her" Michelle said, although the uncertainty in her voice was clear. Her eyes welled with tears at the thought of her best friend, in the hands of some monster.

The minutes that passed felt like hours to Peter and Michelle but eventually the police arrived at the flat followed by some paramedics. As Michelle gave a statement to the police about what she had seen, the paramedics were busy tending to Peter.

"Peter, we're going to get you to hospital alright?" The paramedic said,

"No" Peter refused, "I can't, I need to find Carla"

"It's really important that you get your injury checked, although you might feel okay now, we don't know if there's any other damage"

"Didn't you hear what I just said?!" Peter said, growing more and more frustrated, "I'm not going anywhere until I know Carla is safe"

"I understand that your worried Peter but the best thing for you is to go to hospital to check the extent of your injuries, if you wait longer you're at risk of making yourself worse" the paramedic tried to reason with Peter,

"He's right you know", Michelle said, joining the conversation, "you won't be any good to Carla if your injured yourself will you? I know it's hard but the police are doing everything they can"

"You're right, sorry" Peter said, giving up and allowing the paramedics to take him to the waiting ambulance. "Michelle will you tell my dad and Deidre what's happened, someone will have to pick Simon up from school"

"Yeah of course, I'll go round just now and let them know then get Steve to drive up after you to the hospital."

"Thanks" Peter smiled gratefully at Michelle, "What about Carla?" Peter asked the police desperately.

"Try not to worry Mr Barlow" a male police officer replied, "we will find Mrs Connor, I'll need a photo and some details and we'll get officers on the case right away"

"I'll sort that out" Michelle offered, cautious that Peter needed to get to hospital,

"Okay, we'll get those as soon as possible", the female police officer replied as Peter was taken out of the flat and into the ambulance.

Carla's eyes fluttered open as she tried to take in her surroundings, her eyesight slightly blurred as she tried to work out where she was. She looked around her to the dark room with nothing but a bed that she had been laid on, if you could even call it a bed. She found herself lying uncomfortably against the hard wood and as she sat up she felt as if the whole room was moving. _Where am I?_ she thought, desperately trying to remember how she got there. She dragged herself up from the bed, a spell of dizziness coming over her, causing her to remain seated on the bed, closing her eyes for a few seconds before slowly getting up. She soon realised that it wasn't her imagination and the room actually was moving slightly, rocking gently back and forwards. She noticed a door at the other side of the door and tried to open it but it was firmly locked, confirming that there was no way she was getting out. After a few more failed attempts at trying to get the door open, she retreated back to the uncomfortable bed where she sat, trying to remember the events of the day.

An hour had passed and Carla was still in the same position, unable to escape from the small room. She was lost in her thoughts when suddenly she heard voices.

"How far away are we?" a male voice said from outside the door.

"Not long now I don't think, I'll check with James" came another voice.

James. That name was familiar. Who was James? Her mind went into overdrive when her thoughts were interrupted by James' voice echoed through the room.

"Two hours at the most mate, I've just let Frank know we won't be long"

Carla suddenly felt sick as the memories came flooding back to her as she remembered who James was and why she had been brought here. His words terrified her, knowing that she was only two hours away from Frank. Her palms became sweaty and tears formed in her eyes, dreading what would happen when she came into contact with Frank. Why is he doing this? She questioned herself, desperately wishing that this was all just a dream and that she would wake up safe in Peter's arms. Peter. Oh God Peter. What did he do to him?! She panicked, not knowing whether he was okay. She broke down in tears at the image of Peter falling in front of her, his body weak and lifeless, wanting to rid her mind of those awful images of him that began to play over and over again in her head. She got up from the bed and ran to the door, banging on it and screaming helplessly, she needed to know where she was and try to work out what these vicious men were planning to do to her.

"Help me! Let me out! Please!" She screamed, banging repeatedly on the door. She continued to bang and scream for a few minutes until eventually she heard someone fiddling with the lock on the other side of the door.

"She's come round, must have worn off" a man said,

"Open it up" James said, causing Carla to instantly regret her attempt of getting out at the thought of coming face to face with James again.

The door swung open, causing Carla to step back, revealing James and another man standing on the other side.

"Carla, how nice of you to join us" James smirked,

"What do you want? Where am I?" Carla asked, trying to hide the fear that was evident in her voice.

"You know why you're here Carla, we're going to pay Frank a visit" James said cruelly, watching her flinch at even just the mention of his name.

"Please don't take me to him" Carla begged, not wanting to be reunited with her attacker.

"Too late for that sweetheart, he's waiting for us."

"Where?" Carla asked, dreading the answer he was about to give her,

"We're in the middle of the ocean. You'll find out when you get there. I'll give you a clue… It's sunny, just think of it as a holiday" James said, leaving the room and slamming the door shut and locking it before Carla had the chance to reply.

Carla felt her legs give way underneath her as she fell against the wall and down to the floor, realisation finally hitting her that this evil man had taken her possibly thousands of miles away from Weatherfield, away from home, away from Peter. She pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her head in her hands, struggling to breath as she sobbed helplessly wishing that she could be back home in the safety of Peter's flat. She couldn't begin to imagine the amount of emotional and physical torture Frank could put her through, in her mind she wasn't completely sure if she would ever escape from him and back to Peter. But in her eyes, a life without Peter was not a life worth living.


	25. Chapter 25

In Weatherfield, Michelle had just arrived back at the pub with the police to find some photos of Carla. As they entered the pub it fell silent as the locals looked on in confusion wondering what was going on. Steve came out to the bar, his face a picture of concern for his girlfriend who's cheeks were stained with tears.

"Babe what's happened, are you okay?" Steve asked,

"Come through the back" Michelle said, not wanting to draw attention to them, although everyone's eyes were already fixed on them.

"Yeah sure, come on" Steve said, leading Michelle and the two police officers into the back room. Michelle reminded silent as if she was in a state of shock, sitting down on the sofa and putting her head in her hands.

"Michelle, what's happened darling?" Steve asked, placing a comforting arm round her.

"It's Carla" Michelle said, "she's missing"

"What? How can she be missing?! Are you sure?" Steve asked, confused

"Yes of course I'm sure, some man came into her flat and when I got there Peter was unconscious and said someone had Carla"

"Oh my god" Steve said, not sure what to say,

"Miss Connor I know your upset but we really need to get those photos" the police officer said sensitively, keen to move the investigation forward.

"Yeah, sorry" Michelle said, getting up and going over to one of the cupboards pulling out a photo album. She flicked through it until she came to a photo of herself and Carla that was taken a few years before at Michelle's birthday party. The next photo she brought out was one of Carla on her own, taken on the same night. She had a beaming smile and a sparkle in her eye. She looked so happy, Michelle thought, furious as to why Carla had to go through all this.

"Here you go, these are fairly recent, they were taken at my birthday party a few years ago." she said, handing over the photos, not able to look at them any more without getting upset.

"Thank you, we'll keep you updated, if we act quick enough this man shouldn't get too far" the policeman said, heading towards the door with his colleague.

"Thank you" Michelle said wearily,

"I'll show you out" Steve said leading them through to the pub.

Michelle picked up the photo album again when she was alone, flicking through it to find a much older photo of her, Carla, Paul and Liam which was taken when they were all young.

Carla looked about 10, Michelle a few years younger, both of them smiling for the camera along with Paul and Liam. A tear escaped Michelle's eye as she thought back to the day when that photo was taken. Carla had been a part of her life for as long as she could remember and was more like a sister to her than just a best friend. Since then she had lost her two brothers, she couldn't lose Carla as well.

At Weatherfield general, Ken and Deirdre had just arrived in Peter's hospital room where he was waiting for the doctor to come and reveal the extent of his injuries, however Peter understandably was a lot more concerned about Carla than himself.

"Peter, how are you?" Ken asked,

"I'm fine, it's Carla we should be worrying about, the sooner I get out of here the better, I need to find her. It'll be Frank, sent someone to kidnap her from her own home, what kind of monster does that?!"

"I know your worried Peter but unless your fully recovered you can't risk damaging yourself anymore" Ken said,

"Your dad's right" Deridre agreed, "we're all worried about Carla, the poor woman is the last person who deserves this after everything she's been through"

"She doesn't deserve any of this" Peter said angrily, "how can he keep taking from her?!"

"I know love, it's not fair, but Carla's a strong woman, and the police are doing everything they can to find her" Deirdre tried to reassure him.

"I promised I would protect her, I said she was safe and that he wouldn't come near her. I'm so useless, I can't even keep a promise."

"Peter this isn't our fault, you weren't to know this was going to happen"

"I can't even begin to imagine what he's going to do to her when he gets her, if I ever lay my hands on him I'll kill him" Peter said furiously, hoping that the police would get to Carla before Frank did.

A few hours later, Carla was still locked in the small enclosed room on what she had guessed was some kind of boat. She had no idea of the time or how many minutes or hours had passed since James' visit but she did know that every second that passed she was closer to Frank, a thought that terrified her. Her throat was beginning to hurt from her screaming and she realised no matter how much she called for help, nobody would come and so she sat there on the floor, with her back against the wall in silence, just waiting. If she stayed quiet she could hear the faint sound of the waves crashing against the side of the boat which she found quite relaxing. However she soon realised that this also meant she was somewhere in the middle of the ocean surrounded by miles of water with no escape. She had no choice but to stay on the boat for if she tried to escape she would either drown or freeze to death in the depths of the ocean. She hadn't seen daylight in what seemed like forever and wondered whether it was still light outside. Right now silence was her only comfort and she closed her eyes, once again listening to the sound of the waves crashing against the boat.

She was soon snapped back to reality and jolted upright at the sound of James' voice booming through the boat. She could hear his footsteps hammering against the deck, each one getting louder and more terrifying indicating that he was getting closer to her. She tried to stop her hands from trembling as she clung to the wall to help herself stand up. She hadn't eaten for hours and the lack of food and water made her body weak. She eventually gave up and slumped against the wall just as James and another man unlocked the door and barged in.

"We're here" James said, coming over and grabbing Carla by her arms and pulling her up to her feet causing her to become light headed at the sudden movement. "Come on" James demanded as Carla managed to compose herself and slowly follow him out. She was extremely grateful to be out of that room and as she stepped up onto the deck of the boat, the heat of the sun beat against her and she could tell that she was miles away from home, Weatherfield certainly didn't have weather like this.

The boat was still moving and in the distance, Carla could see land, making her assume that they would be getting off soon. James led her off into another room where he brought out a bottle of water. "Drink this" he demanded, unscrewing the cap and handing it to her. He then brought out a plate of food and placed it down in front of her. "Eat." He said, taking a seat and gesturing for her to sit down opposite. She thought she would have been hungry considering she hadn't eaten but the events of the day seemed to have made her lose her appetite completely. She picked at some of the food on the plate and after eating no more than a few bites, gave up and pushed the plate forward indicating that she was finished.

"Come on, my cooking isn't that bad" James said, getting up from the table, "fair enough, it's your fault if you starve, I did try".

Carla felt very uneasy in his presence and he seemed to be acting a lot nicer towards her than he had been before. This was very unsettling and caused her to draw only one conclusion. James was good cop and Frank was bad cop and she wasn't sure whether she could face bad cop yet so treasured every moment she had left on the boat.

Carla was then lead back out to the deck where two other men were standing, looking over to the sea, one steering the ship and one leaning on the edge, simply admiring the view.

"How long?" James asked,

"Twenty minutes" the man driving the ship replied,

"Great, I'll make sure the car is waiting."

"Where are you taking me?" Carla asked, her voice quieter than she had expected,

"I've told you, I'm taking you to Frank" James replied,

"You do realise Frank is on the run from the police? If you get caught kidnapping innocent people and taking them to him you'll go down with him."

"Good job I'm not planning on getting caught then isn't it?" James smirked, "look Carla, I don't particularly like doing this but it's got to be done. When I was little, and the teacher used to ask us in school what we wanted to be when we grew up, do you think I said wanted to be criminal? No, I didn't. But I have to. I need the money. It's not my chosen career path but a man's got to make a living." James said

"So you'll kidnap me, take me from the safety of my own home and injure my boyfriend, leaving him for dead and then take me back to the man who raped me just because you need the money?!" Carla asked, growing increasingly frustrated at James' justification for his actions, "there's plenty people out there who need money, but normal people go out and find a job or get a loan, not become a kidnapper. Your pathetic, nothing but a monster" Carla shouted, losing her temper with him but immediately regretting her words when she saw the anger in his eyes. She silently cursed herself and her big mouth for being so stupid when James lunged himself at her and grabbed her, holding her against the edge of the boat. He held her roughly and pushed her so that she was leaning over the side enough to see the rough water below.

"You speak to me like that again and you'll be over that edge and I won't just be a kidnapper but a murderer as well. Unless you're any good at swimming." James smirked, "Do you understand" he asked threateningly, and when Carla failed to answer he repeated the question, only this time screaming it at her so that she would answer. "DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!"

"Yes" Carla said timidly, breathing a sigh of relief when he let her go.

"Good. Now when we get off this boat we'll be at the harbour and there's going to be other people there so you're going to do as I say. You try to run away, scream or make a scene I'll tell Frank and he'll have a suitable punishment for you. You do exactly as I say and we'll get to the car no problem. Is that clear?"

"Yes." Carla said again.

"Good. Now you stay here like a good girl whilst I make a little phone call to Frank, he can't wait to see you" James said, walking off into a room and closing the door behind him, leaving Carla on her own. She felt sick at the mention of Frank's name and didn't know how she would cope seeing him again, knowing that there would be nobody there to help her and she was miles away from home and from the people she loved. As the boat approached the harbour, she could see people in the distance, families, groups of friends, couples, all enjoying the sun and each other's company. One particular man and woman caught her eye, strolling along the harbour hand in hand. As the boat prepared to stop, their faces became clearer and both had beaming smiles. They looked so happy and in love and she couldn't help but think about Peter, wishing it was them walking along the harbour, him holding her hand and her looking into his loving brown eyes making her feel safe, but instead she was on this boat miles away from safety and about to come face to face with her rapist. She wiped away a tear that fell down her cheek and tried to mentally prepare herself for what was ahead as the boat came to an abrupt stop and James appeared once again.


	26. Chapter 26

Thank you so much to everyone that reviewed the last chapter! So glad you seemed to enjoy it! Can't believe this story has reached almost 100 reviews! I love reading what people think so please keep them coming :)

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As the boat came to a complete stop, James took Carla by the arm and lead her off the boat. As they reached the harbour, Carla had to resist all temptation to run and try to make an escape but James' words from earlier we're stopping her from doing so. James had forced her to wear a scarf around her neck which was able to cover part of her face as well as huge sunglasses to try to hide her identity.

"Here put this on" he said, handing Carla a jacket with a hood.

"Are you serious?! It's about thirty degrees, do you see anyone wearing a coat? Do you want to look any more suspicious?! You'd be aswell putting a sign above my head saying "kidnapped"."

"Alright that's enough" James snapped, putting the jacket into his large rucksack and grabbing Carla by the wrist.

"Remember what I said" James warned, "don't make a scene".

Carla nodded and kept her head down, following him through the crowd of people. There were a few opportunities where she thought she could make an escape but she didn't dare after James had threatened her to tell Frank. She kept her eyes fixed to the ground as they made their way across the harbour where she was bundled into a waiting car. James got into the front with the driver and Carla was in the back with a black screen put up between the back seats and the front. She took this opportunity of being alone to look out of the car window and observe her surroundings trying to work out where she was. There were rows upon rows of houses followed by some market stalls. In the distance, she could see a red and yellow flag waving in the gentle breeze, making her realise she was in Spain. That immediately made her feel a bit better as she realised she could have been a lot further away from home. She had narrowed it down to a particular country, she now had to work out exactly where she was. Now that she knew roughly where she was, she had this new found determination to escape. Frank had seemed to take her to a fairly populated area so she wasn't in the middle of nowhere, not yet anyway, and she had made her mind up that she wasn't going to let Frank beat her. She was going to get out of this mess and back home. She knew it would be difficult and she would have to face him at some point but she would have to be strong.

Back in Weatherfield, Peter had just been informed he was well enough to go home after only experiencing minor concussion and was being discharged from hospital. Ken and Deirdre had just arrived to pick him up and the three of them were walking out to the car.

"I'm so glad to be out of that place, I was only there for a day and it was awful"

"Yeah I know love, hospitals aren't the best places to spend the day" Deirdre laughed, "but the important thing is your alright and now you can get home"

"Have you heard anything about Carla?" Ken asked,

"Michelle's given the police photos and a description and everything and they said they'd let us know if they find anything that might tell us where she is."

"Well let's hope they find her soon" Deirdre said sympathetically.

Back in Weatherfield, in the Rover's, Michelle was pacing up and down the back room, clutching her mobile in her hand.

"Michelle, babe, can you sit down, your making me nervous, you'll ware the floor away if you keep pacing like that" Steve said,

"Shut up Steve!" Michelle snapped,

"Sorry" Steve apologised, "look I know this isn't easy for you but I'm sure the police will find her"

"And what if they don't?!" Michelle asked,

"They will" Steve tried to reassure her,

"How do you know that Steve?! She could be anywhere on the earth right now, we don't even know whether she's dead or alive" Michelle shouted, tears forming in her eyes, "that monster took her from the safety of that flat and I need her back Steve. I need my best friend back" Michelle shouted, breaking down in tears and throwing herself onto the sofa.

"Come here, it's alright" Steve said, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her into a right embrace. Their moment was interrupted by Michelle's phone vibrating and she rushed to check it.

"Was that the police?!" Steve asked, hoping they had some answers.

"No, Peter. He's been discharged from hospital and on his way back"

"Well that's good" Steve said,

"Yeah, he said he gave a statement before he left the hospital so hopefully that'll help. We should go over to Peter's flat and decide what we're going to do because I can't sit around here doing nothing." Michelle said, getting up and putting her shoes on.

"Yeah come on then" Steve said, following her out the pub.

Back in Spain, Carla had now been in the car for at least an hour, still with no contact with the two men in the front seat so she continued to gaze out of the window at what was around her. She was now out of the busy town and was approaching a run down and desolate area. There were no people around and eventually the car came to a stop outside a block of old appartments in the middle of nowhere. This it it, Carla thought as she braced herself for the torture that was about to come. Although she thought herself lucky that she was able to see out the car windown on the way there and know roughly the way back out of this area. James obviously wasn't as smart as he thought he was. Carla took a deep breath to steady her nerves as the car door opened and she was once again face to face with James.

"We're here" James said bluntly, opening the door wider, gesturing for Carla to get out. Carla did as he asked, following him to the door of the block of appartments. He pressed a buzzer and before long, Frank's voice came through the other intercom.

"Frank, I have someone for you" James said cruelly, smirking at Carla, watching her whole body tremble at the sound of his voice.

"Great, I'll open the door" Frank said, and the line went dead as the main door unlocked and allowed them to enter. Each step for Carla was slow as she unwillingly dragged herself up the stairs, wanting the walk to be as long as possible to avoid Frank.

"Hurry up will you, Frank's waiting" James said, grabbing her and pulling her along, causing her to walk faster. They came to an apartment door on the second floor and James knocked on it. Within seconds, Frank opened the door, smirking cruelly at Carla who was now shaking violently, tears forming in her eyes.

"Enjoy" James said, pushing Carla forwards into Frank's arms and turning on his heel and leaving.

"James, before you go, has she been a good girl?" Frank asked,

Carla looked at James, silently begging him to say yes, dreading the punishment she would receive if he said no. The few seconds she waited for him to answer seemed like minutes and James eventually replied.

"She has" he said, winking at Carla.

"Thanks, you'll be richly rewarded for your troubles" Frank said smugly, "now off you go, I've got some unfinished business to deal with" Frank said, tightening his grip on Carla's shoulders and guiding her inside before closing the door.

"Carla, how lovely to see you again"

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Coming up in the next few chapters:

How will Carla react in the hands of Frank and what does he have planned for her?

The police manage to find some information to help them find Carla but will it be enough to bring her home safely?

Peter struggles to cope with the fact that Carla has been taken and feels guilty..

How will the factory workers react to the news of their boss's disappearance and will Michelle be able to cope with running the factory while her best friend is missing?

Hope you like the sound of what's coming up!

Please review :)


	27. Chapter 27

Can't believe that this has reached 100 reviews! Thank you so much, I love reading them. Hope you enjoy the next part :)

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"Hiya, come in" Peter said, allowing them to enter. He looked rough, obviously stressed and suffering from lack of sleep.

"How are you mate?" Steve asked, placing his hand on his friends shoulder.

"As well as I can be considering my girlfriend's missing" Peter said sadly, "thanks for coming round"

"It's alright, have you heard anything from the police?" Michelle asked,

"No, nothing yet" Peter said,

"I wish there was more we could do" Michelle said helplessley,

"I know, I feel so useless sitting here doing nothing" Peter said,

"Me too" Michelle agreed.

"Sit down, would you like a coffee?" Peter offered,

"Coffee would be lovely thanks" Michelle smiled, sitting down on the sofa with Steve.

"So what did the hospital say? Is everything alright?" Michelle asked as Peter joined them on the sofa handing each of them a cup of coffee.

"Not much, just that I had minor concussion and to take it easy"

"Well that's good, it could have been a lot worse"

"Yeah it could have been"

"What did the police say when you gave your statement?" Steve asked,

"Not a lot, just that they were investigating the case" Peter sighed, "I just hope they find her soon because if anything happened to her I would never forgive myself"

"Peter this isn't your fault" Michelle tried to reassure him, "nothing you could have done would have stopped this from happening"

"But I promised her I would look after her and not let anyone hurt her again"

"I know but you can't blame yourself, you know Carla told me the other day that if it wasn't for you she wouldn't be able to get through this. You might not realise it Peter but you've helped her a lot more than you might think. I don't know what state she would be in if it wasn't for you."

"She told you that?" Peter asked, smiling slightly.

"Yeah, so don't be too hard on yourself. What you need to do is take it easy for the rest of the day, go and have a shower have something to eat and get some sleep. Hopefully by tomorrow morning we'll have heard from the police"

"Yeah your right, thanks Michelle"

"We'll get off and leave you to get some rest alright? Call of you need anything" Steve said, standing up and heading for the door of the flat, "they will find her mate" Steve said reassuringly,

"Yeah, let's hope it's soon eh?" Peter said sadly, "Michelle, I know how close you and Carla are so this will be just as hard for you, anything you need just pop over or give me a call" Peter said kindly,

"Thanks Peter, I'll see you tomorrow" Michelle smiled, heading back to the rovers with Steve.

In Frank's apartment, Frank was now sat on the sofa with Carla standing by the doorway, not wanting to be near him.

"Carla, come and sit down" Frank smirked, moving over to make space for Carla to sit next to him.

"No I'm fine here" Carla said quietly,

"I said come and sit down" Frank said more firmly, causing Carla to immediately go and sit down on the edge of the sofa, wanting to stay as far away from him as possible. As she sat down, all the courage and determination she had earlier had to escape had drained from her. She didn't know what he would have done to her if she had refused again to sit down.

"Don't look so scared, what do you think I'm going to do to you?" Frank asked,

"Is that supposed to be a joke?! I can't imagine what you'll do to me after last time" Carla said, although it was barely audible because of the fear in her voice.

"Oh come on Carla, I know you want me just as much as I want you" Frank smirked,

"That couldn't be further from the truth" Carla said, "You have made my life absolute hell since that night. That night you left me there, on the floor in my flat after you raped me. Do you even know how much you've put me through. I haven't slept properly, I've cried myself to sleep every night, had horrible nightmares. Ever since you left my flat I've been looking over my shoulder for you, terrified that the minute I'm alone you would appear and attack me again. But no you didn't did you? Instead you sent some man into my flat to kidnap me and bring me here to you and I assume your going to keep me here like a prisoner in this apartment. Don't you think what you've already done to me is enough?! You've taken everything from me! You've ruined my life and I hate you!" Carla screamed, wanting to know exactly what he had put her through.

"Shut up" Frank snapped, "SHUT UP!" he shouted, grabbing her by her shoulders and pulled her up so that she was standing. "It was nothing you didn't deserve" Frank said cruelly.

Carla tried to fight him off, kicking and screaming, trying to wriggle free from his grasp.

"You must be exhausted after that journey" Frank said, tightening his grip on her, "Let's go to bed

"No!" Carla screamed, trying once again to fight him off but failing miserably as he dragged her off into the bedroom.

The next morning, back in Weatherfield, the factory workers were gathered outside the door of the factory, unaware of what had happened the day before. Neither Carla or Michelle had turned up for work and Hayley was letting them in with her spare key.

"How come Carla can come in and out whenever she wants, we all have to be here bang on 8:30 every morning and she's not even here to let us in" Beth complained.

"Probably because she's the boss Beth, she can do what she likes when she likes" Sean said

"Yeah, Sean's right" Fiz agreed, "how I would love to be my own boss, getting to choose your own hours and everything, must be great"

"Yeah, you can have a lie in whenever you want" Beth said,

"Right everyone, I'm not sure where Carle and Michelle are this morning, they might just be running late but I assume we'll just be continuing with the order" Hayley said before going into the office to get her clipboard to read the rota. She noticed a sticky note stuck to the side of Carla's computer screen to remind her that she had a meeting this morning in town at 10:30. She should be here soon Hayley thought, when she remembered back to yesterday when Michelle couldn't get a hold of Carla on her mobile. She had gone out to find her but hadn't come back that afternoon leaving Hayley to lock up. She went out to the shop floor, noticing Sean stood by the kettle, making everyone a coffee.

"Sean?" Hayley asked, going over to join him in the kitchen area.

"Yes Hayles?" Sean replied, reaching for some mugs.

"Have you seen Carla or Michelle since last night?"

"No, I haven't seen them. None of them were in the pub last night, actually now you mention it, Steve wasn't there either, Liz said he had to go somewhere with Michelle, apparently the police came into the rovers or something, well according to Eva, she might be being a bit dramatic, you know what she's like, it all happened before my shift though so I don't know"

Hayley's heart raced at this revelation, scared of what might have happened.

"Hayley? You alright? You've gone dead pale" Sean said, concerned

"Yeah I'm fine, it's just.. Well this might be completely off the mark but you don't think something might have happened do you?"

"What do you mean? With Michelle and Steve?"

"No with Carla, in the office yesterday Michelle was worried because she didn't come back from her lunch break then she wouldn't answer her phone so she went to look for her"

"and she didn't come back" Sean finished her sentence,

"yeah.. I do hope she's alright"

"I'm sure she'll be fine" Sean said, although he was obviously concerned, "like Beth said, she'll probably just be having a lie in. Who can blame her after the few weeks she's had"

"Yeah your right" Hayley said, "I'm probably worrying over nothing" she said, busying herself with her work.

At Peter's flat, Michelle had just arrived to see how Peter was.

"Morning" Peter said letting her in,

"Morning, brought you this" Michelle said, handing him a coffee from Roy's.

"Thanks, how are you?"

"Not great, I just can't stop thinking about Carla" Michelle said sadly

"Me neither, I barely slept last night worrying about her" Peter admitted,

"Neither did I" Michelle agreed, "I wish we knew more"

"Me too" Peter said, running his hand through his hair tiredly.

Both of them sat in silence for a few moments when the buzzer rang. Peter jumped up from the sofa to get it,

"Hello? Yeah, okay, yeah come up"

"It's the police" Peter said, letting them up.

Peter opened the flat door allowing two police officers to enter the flat.

"Hi, come in, sit down" Peter said,

"Thanks, we have invested the case and we've come across some information that might help us find Mrs Connor" the police officer said, "since you both made it clear that you think Frank Foster might be involved in this, we immediately contacted all ports and airports to alert them since Mr Foster has left the country."

"Did you find anything?" Peter asked, desperately hoping for some good news.

"We did, yes. We've sent out a report to all newspapers and published a report online. We've had a phone call from some British tourists who were visiting a Spanish island who have reportedly spotted a woman matching Mrs Connor's description with a man who was acting suspiciously matching the description you gave us of the man who broke into your flat. So we've been in contact with the Spanish police and they've sent us some CCTV footage of the woman who was spotted at a Spanish port getting off a boat."

"So you think it might be Carla?"

"It might be, yes. If you'd like to come with us you can come down to the police station and view the footage. You might be able to officially identify Mrs Connor which will lead us one step closer to finding her."

"Okay, let's go" Peter said, getting up, followed by Michelle.

"Right, we can give you a lift to the station" the police offered, leading Peter and Michelle out to the waiting car, both of them hoping that the woman was Carla.


	28. Chapter 28

Here's the next chapter, so sorry for the delay in updating, my internet has been down so I haven't been able to post this chapter. This update is slightly longer so hopefully that makes up for the delay. Thanks for the reviews on the last chapter. Please let me know what you think of this chapter. Thanks :)

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In Frank's apartment, Carla opened her eyes, being woken up from the sunlight shining in through the gap in the blinds. She took a few seconds to adjust to her surroundings, not sure where she was. She turned her head to the side, staring at the door, Frank's suit hanging on the handle, immediately trying to forget the images going round in her head of what he had done to her the night before. She pulled the duvet further around her, covering her body, her eyes catching a glimpse of the bruises forming on her wrists. Her skin was once again littered with evidence of one of his brutal attack, just as the previous ones were healed. She climbed out of the bed, each movement causing her pain and struggled over to the window. She opened the curtains and looked out, only to see miles and miles of deserted land, not a person in sight. She tried to open the window but failed miserably. It was locked, of course it was. Frank wasn't going to leave her in a room where there was a risk of her escaping.

She jumped with fright as she heard Frank's footsteps coming through. She jumped back into bed and covered herself with the duvet, pretending to be asleep, hoping he would leave her alone.

She tried to stop her whole body from shaking as she heard the door open and Frank enter the room.

"Carla, are you awake?" He asked quietly, coming closer to the bed. She kept her eyes firmly closed, trying to control her rapid breathing to make it look as if she was asleep.

"Come on darling, up you get" Frank said, shaking her gently.

Carla tried to stay asleep but in the end, she was forced to open her eyes, flinching at his touch.

"Morning" Frank said, flashing her a wicked grin, "I thought I'd let you have a lie in, figured you would need the rest after our night of passion last night. I'm popping out for a bit"

"Good" Carla said bluntly, looking down to avoid his gaze

"Don't even think about trying to escape, not that you'd be able to" Frank said smugly, waving the key in front of her eyes before dropping it in his pocket. He then leaned in to kiss her but Carla quickly turned her head in the opposite direction.

"Don't I get a goodbye kiss" Frank said, grabbing her face roughly in his hands, turning her head so that she was facing. She reluctantly stopped fighting and gave in to him, letting him place a bruising kiss against her lips.

"That's better, see you later" he said, leaving the room and closing the door behind him.

Carla heard the front door bang closed causing her to jump and once again she was trapped and alone.

Back in Weatherfield, Peter and Michelle had just arrived in the police station and were sat in an interview room waiting to view the CCTV footage.

"What's taking them so long?!" Peter asked,

"I don't know" Michelle sighed, "they need to hurry up, the quicker they show is this photo the quicker they can find her"

Just at that, a police officer entered the room followed by another, carrying a laptop.

"Miss Connor, Mr Barlow, this is the CCTV footage we've been sent, if you'd like to take a look. The policeman placed the laptop on the table, a video on the screen. He pressed play and Peter and Michelle watched, hoping it was Carla.

The video showed a woman being lead through a crowd, a man with a firm hold of her wrist. Her face was mostly covered with a scarf and sunglasses but her unmistakable black hair was on show. She was dressed in black, hurrying to keep up with the man in front.

"I also have these photos taken from the footage" the police officer said, placing some photos on the table in front of them.

"That's her" Peter said immediately picking up the photo.

In one of the photos, a necklace was visible where the scarf had been blown from the wind. "That's the necklace she always wears" he said, instantly recognising the necklace he had bought her.

"Yeah he's right" Michelle said,

"I bought it for her about a month ago as a present, she's never taken it off" he said, clutching the photo, desperate to find his girlfriend.

"Okay, so you're definitely sure this Mrs Connor?"

"Definitely" Peter said,

"Well that more or less confirms that she's on the Spanish island of Majorca. That's where these photos were taken and information has been given to all ports and airports on the island to contact us if anyone attempts to take her from the country. We'll get more officers sent out there straight away. Thank you for your help."

"I want to go and help find her" Peter said determinedly,

"Me Barlow, I'm not sure there's much you can do if you go out, I would strongly recommend that you leave us to do our job and stay here in Weatherfield, we'll do our very best to bring Mrs Connor home safely."

"And what if you don't?!"

"Try not to think about that Mr Barlow, our officers are trained to deal with situations like this, we know what we're doing. We're doing everything we can, we'll be in touch with any news"

"Okay, thank you" Michelle said gratefully, leading Peter towards the door, her heart breaking for the devastated man in front of her.

"Do you need a lift back?" The police officer asked kindly,

"No it's okay, I'll call my boyfriend to come and get us, thanks though" Michelle said, getting her phone from her pocket to call Steve.

"Okay, like I said, we'll be in touch."

When they got out of the police station, Peter went and sat on a nearby bench, suddenly breaking down in tears.

"I just want to find her, I need her home safely" Peter sobbed,

"I know you do Peter, we all do" Michelle said, tears escaping her own eyes as she thought of her best friend.

"I can't love without her" Peter said,

"I know, they will find her" Michelle tried to assure him, but she couldn't help but have her own doubts about whether Carla would come home.

Back in Weatherfield, at the factory, everyone was still working, unsure of the whereabouts of Carla and Michelle. The chatter of the machinists along with the radio and the continuous buzzing of the seeing machines could be heard but everything immediately went silent as Sean ran in to the factory almost dropping the box of cakes he had just fetched from Roy's and looking as if he had seen a ghost.

"Sean, what's wrong?! Are you alright?" Julie asked, concerned.

Sean said nothing but sat down in his chair, trying to form a sentence to describe what he had just been told.

"Mrs Connor.. She's..."

"She's what Sean?!" Hayley asked, immediately fearing the worst,

"She's missing"

"She's what? How can she be missing?! She was here yesterday" Beth said, a confused look on her face.

"Yesterday, she was kidnapped and nobody knows where she is" Sean said, shocking the factory workers into a stunned silence.

"What do you mean? Kidnapped by who?" Fiz eventually asked,

"I don't know but I just bumped into Steve, he was rushing out of streetcars and into a cab and he said he was picking up Peter and Michelle from the police station. Someone broke into Peter's flat yesterday afternoon and took Carla away with them. Apparently it's something to do with Frank Foster" Sean explained,

"That's awful" Julie said, "as if that poor woman hasn't been through enough already" she said sadly, causing everyone else to nod in agreement.

They all eventually got back to work in silence, everyone concerned for their boss.

It had now been just over an hour since Frank had left Carla alone in his apartment. She was grateful for the small clock on the bedside table, continuously ticking away, the minute hand almost having made it's way round a whole circle giving her an idea of how ling he had been gone. She had got up and had a glass of water before checking all the doors but of course they were all locked.

She got up once more from the bed, determined to find a way out before Frank got back. This could be her only chance. Every window was locked, and she could see no way of getting out so she began to search for a phone where she could try and contact someone. She searched every room when eventually she came across a landline. She picked up the phone and tried to phone Peter's flat, the only number she could remember off the top of her head. She pressed call but when she held it to her ear, she was met with silence. She followed the wire coming from the phone and screamed in frustration when she realised the line had been cut.

She walked over to the main door of the apartment, trying the door once more in the hope that it would magically open. It was still firmly locked. She threw herself repeatedly at the door, trying to break it down and use the weight of her own body to force open the lock. The door was not budging and she gave up, sliding down to the floor, crying with frustration.

"Help me!" She screamed hopelessly, "someone please help me" she shouted desperately in the hope that someone would hear her and come to her rescue.

She soon came to the conclusion that nobody could hear her and the longer she spent sitting there crying, the less time she would have to get out before Frank came back so she retreated back to the bedroom to check the time and think of another plan.

Not long later, she was walking through the apartment in search of an object strong enough to break a window. She went into the kitchen area and searched through the drawers until she came across a knife. She picked it up and carried it through to the living area and pulled back a large curtain to reveal a glass door leading out onto a balcony. She immediately tried to smash the glass but the knife was only successful in scratching it. She retreated back to the kitchen, putting back the knife and searching for something else. She came to another bedroom and a large metal vase caught her eye.

"Perfect" she said, picking up the vase which was a lot heavier than she had expected. She carried it out of the bedroom and used all her strength to batter it off the glass door. After about ten attempts of trying to break the glass she had still not yet been successful. She once again screamed in frustration, using every bit of strength she had to hit the vase once again against the glass and almost froze with shock when a small piece of glass cracked and fell away. Her heart began to beat faster and a huge smile spread across her face as she realised how close she was to escaping. She smashed the glass some more until she made a big enough hole to climb through. When she was about to climb out she realised she was still dressed in her dressing gown so ran into the bedroom to get changed. She found her clothes that she had been wearing the day before, leggings and a black top that had been viciously ripped off of her the previous night. Some of the buttons going down the front of her top had been ripped but she didn't care. She got dressed in the clothes from the day before and ran back to the door, putting on a pair of flat shoes that James had insisted she wore on the boat as her heels were "not practical". The shoes given to her weren't her first choice but although she could walk in heels, she didn't fancy running in them so she put on the flats.

She climbed out of the window, pieces of glass cutting her hands as she pulled herself outside. She stood on the balcony looking down below trying to plan her escape. The apartment was on the second floor so it was too far to jump. She glanced along the other apartment balconies where there was a set of stairs. She immediately made her way over the edge of the balcony and into the next one when she heard a car door bang closed from beneath her. She glanced quickly over the edge of the balcony and saw Frank locking his car and making his way towards the building. She knew time was rapidly running out and she had to move quickly. She moved as fast as she could, her heart beat racing with the fear of Frank catching her. He would know the minute he stepped through the door that she had escaped because of the smashed glass. As soon as she reached the last balcony before the stairs she heard Frank's voice echoing through the air from his apartment.

"Carla!" He shouted, "Carla, where are you?!"

Carla could hear banging and the sound of glass smashing and as she ran as fast as she could down the stairs she caught a glimpse of him running out onto the balcony shouting her name.


End file.
